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THE GREAT CHAN OP CATHAY AT TABLE 



Stories of Adventure 

As told by Adventurers 



By 

Edward E. Hale 



New edition, revised, with illustrations 



Boston 

Little, Brown, and Company 

1905 



iONSRESS 

BW)V8{) 

19 1904* 
I '4 / 



Copyright, 1881, 
By Roberts -Brothers. 

Copyright, 1904, 

By Little, Brown, and Company. 



UNIVERSITY PRESS 
CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 






PREFACE. 

» 

This volume, like the four others in the same series, 
was suggested at the Librarians' Congress in Boston. 
It has been prepared in the wish to teach boys 
and girls how to use themselves the treasures, now at 
their hands, in public libraries. The public spirit, the 
munificence often, with which these libraries have been 
sustained ought to be loyally followed up by the friends 
of young people by careful effort to give them good 
habits in finding and enjoying the books they contain. 
It is not reasonable to throw on the librarians the work of 
introducing these books to young readers ; but it is the 
duty of all those who are in any way charged with the 
interests of education to show to such readers how they 
can choose for themselves. 

It will be seen, therefore, that my object is not to re- 
write the tales of adventure, here referred to, nor is it my 
wish to present them in such form as to satisfy the reader. 
Rather I have hoped that he may not be satisfied. I 
should be glad, as Sam Weller was, to make him wish for 
more, trusting that then, like Oliver Twist, he may go and 

ask for more. 

EDWARD E. HALE. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

I. Marco Polo 7 

II. Sir John Mandeville and the Crusades 31 

III. Bertrandon in Palestine 45 

IV. Geoffrey of Vinsauf 69 

V. Hernando Cortes's Letters 101 

VI. Fra Marco and Coronado 127 

VII. The Jesuit Relations 141 

VIII. Northern Discoveries 157 

IX. Humboldt's Travels 184 

X. A Young Man's Voyage 220 

XI. The Northwest 253 

XII. Siberia and Kamchatka 275 

Index 311 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Pack 

The Great Chan of Cathay at Table . . . Frontispiece 

Galley Going Into Action 13 

Marco Polo 18 

Plain of Cambaluc 26 ' 

Damascus 50 . 

Ruins of the Temples at Balbeck 66 « 

King Henry II of England 72 « 

Richard Cceur-de-Lion 89 / 

Hernando Cortes 101 

Cannon of Cortes' Time 104 

The Great Temple of Mexico 109 

Montezuma 116' 

An Indian Pueblo 128 

Moqui Woman Grinding Corn 139 

Hearne's Drawing of Prince of Wales Fort, Hudson's 

Bay 162 

Baron Humboldt 198 ' 



STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 



I. 

MARCO POLO. 

AVERY bright and merry set of boys and girls 
have been invited, now for every winter for some 
years, to spend their Saturday afternoons with Col. 
Ingham, at his house at Jamaica Plain, near Boston. It 
is the old Lady Oliver house, which was built by some 
West Indian grandees before the Revolution, — from 
whose windows, indeed, they looked out to smile appro- 
val on the English troops, when, in the spring of 1775, 
they made their one " military promenade " out through 
Roxbury, and back through Dorchester into Boston, — 
the only time they ever went out to come safely back 
again. 

The evenings of these young people at this house are 
generally spent in dancing or in round games around 
Col. Ingham's large tables ; but a habit has grown 
up, in which, if they choose, they may come as early as 
half-past three o'clock, and ask Col. Ingham questions 
about what they are reading, and burrow as much 
as they choose in the treasures of his curious library. 
The " Stories of the Sea," which has its place in this 
collection, were read aloud by these young people in sue- 



8 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1880. 

cessive visits of one winter, — much as they had dug out 
the " Stories of War," in a visit they made to the colo- 
nel at Little Crastis, on the Rhode Island seashore, the 
summer before. 

After a summer and autumn crowded full with hair- 
breadth adventure, — stories of sea, indeed, and stories 
of land, though fortunately no worse stories of war than 
Blanche's encounter with a deaf conductor, and Bed- 
ford's somewhat doubtful encounters with quails and 
partridges at Quonochontaug, — the children gathered 
one dark afternoon at Col. Ingham's, with loud mutual 
felicitations, and with a cordial welcome from him. It 
was raining pitilessly out of doors ; but rubber boots 
and gossamers had emancipated these girls, and the 
boys, of course, had to be out always, " weather 
or no." 

"No Blue Hills to-day," said Uncle Fritz, laughing, 
as Blanche and May rubbed their little hands in front 
of his hickory fire. 

" No," said Blanche, " the famous Alpine Club itself 
surrenders to this storm. And my sketch, Uncle Fritz, — 
what you called my grand study for a panorama, — will 
have to be finished with spring apple-blossoms on the 
right hand, to patch out the sombre chestnuts and oaks 
I had worked in so elaborately on the left hand ; for we 
shall certainly have no more alpine clubs this fall." 

The young people are fond of calling themselves the 
Alpine Club when they go to the Quarries or the Blue 
Hills or Nahant or the Brewsters or the Middlesex Fells 
or the Waverley Oaks or any of the other nice places 
within an easy excursion from Boston. 

" Unless, indeed," said Col. Ingham, " unless we 
get a sleigh-ride some afternoon, and I send you up 



i8So. MARCO POLO. 9 

to the top of the Blue Hills on snow-shoes. I did 
not know how many of you might be here. I am not 
jealous of Mr. Hale ; but when I found you were all 
studying politics over at his house, I thought there 
might be no time for story-telling. Have you prepared 
your protocol for Russia, Blanche ? " 

Blanche laughed. She said the more they read of one 
thing, the more they wanted to read of another ; and 
that, for her part, she found no one of Uncle Fritz's 
rules so easy as that which bids her 

Confess Ignorance. 

Uncle Fritz's rules for talk are : — 

Tell the Truth. 
Do not talk about Your Own Affairs. 

Confess Ignorance. 

Talk to the Person who talks to You. 

do not underrate hlm. 

Be short. 1 

All the boys and girls agreed with Blanche, as, in- 
deed, they are apt to, for Blanche is as pleasant as she 
is sensible ; and here are two qualities which do not 
always travel together. 

By this time almost all the " Alpine Club " had come. 
The waterproofs were hung to drip and dry in the back 
hall, under Flora Haggerty's care ; and in a great semi- 
circle the young people sat round the hickory fire. 
It was something about the " Stories of the Sea," which 
had just been published by Little & Brown, which 
started them on travels ; and how they would like to 
go to Tahiti and New Zealand and all the wonderful 
places ! 

1 " How to Do It," pp. 29-60. 



I0 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1880. 

Uncle Fritz told them of some college friends of his, 
who had planned landing in Arabia from Zanzibar, and 
then assuming Arab costumes, talking such Arabic as 
they could, and gradually making their way through 
Asia till they came out at Canton, on the eastern shore. 
They failed in this great plan only from the merest 
accident at the start. 

"We know, to this hour, curiously little of Central 
Asia," he said. " There are regions of which Marco 
Polo's account is the only account we have to this day ; 
and that is six hundred years old." 

" And it was not true when it was new, was it ? " asked 
Horace, laughing. 

Uncle Fritz said that that was an old scandal. He 
said that Mandeville and Marco Polo had long been 
called the princes of liars, while people did not follow 
their example of travel ; but in our times, their reputa- 
tions are waking up to light again. In Marco Polo's 
case, he wrote almost wholly from memory, — from the 
mere fact that he wrote long after his return from the 
East ; but later authorities have verified so much of his 
narrative that it is but fair to believe him when nothing 
can be proved against him. 

Bertha confessed that she mixed him up very badly 
with Marco Paul, who travelled in Mr. Abbott's 
books. 

They all laughed, because they knew what Bertha 
meant. " That was one of Jacob Abbott's quiet jokes. 
His books are wellnigh perfect in everything, and in 
nothing more perfect than in the choice of names. So 
he makes Marco Paul a traveller, on purpose that we 
may all remember the prince of the travellers of the Mid- 
dle Ages." 



1260. IRVING'S ACCOUNT OF MARCO POLO II 

Then Col. Ingham sent for the third volume of Irving's 
" Columbus," and for Col. Yule's careful edition of 
"Marco Polo," — a fascinating book, which should be 
in every public library. He told Bedford to go to the 
bookcase which had Columbus's bust on top, and look 
till he found them. 

That is the case with the travels and geographies in 
it. Bedford knows it as well as he knows the book- 
shelves he has at home, which he made on his own 
work-bench in the laundry. Col. Ingham told Bedford 
he would find an account of Marco Polo in the Appen- 
dix ; and Bedford found it, and read aloud : — 



IRVING'S ACCOUNT OF MARCO POLO. 

Marco Polo was a native of Venice, who in the thir- 
teenth century made a journey to the East, and filled all 
Christendom with curiosity by his account of the coun- 
tries he had visited. He was preceded in his travels by 
his father Nicholas, and his uncle, Matteo Polo. These 
two brothers were of an illustrious family in Venice, and 
embarked, in the year 1260, 1 on a commercial voyage to 
the East. Having traversed the Mediterranean and the 
strait of Bosphorus, they stopped for a short time at 
Constantinople. From hence they proceeded by the 
Euxine to Armenia, where they remained for a year, 
entertained with great favor at the court of a Tartar 
prince. A war breaking out between their patron and a 
neighboring potentate, and the former being defeated, 
they were embarrassed how to extricate themselves from 
the country, and return home in safety. After various 

1 So Yule corrects Irving, who says 1250. 



12 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1271-95. 

wanderings, they at length reached Bochara, in the Gulf 
of Persia, where they resided for three years. While 
here, there arrived an ambassador from one of the infe- 
rior Tartar powers, on his way to the court of the Great 
Khan. Finding that the two brothers were well ac- 
quainted with the Tartar tongue, he prevailed upon 
them to accompany him. After a march of several 
months, being delayed by snows and inundations, they 
arrived at the court of Cublai, otherwise called the 
Great Khan, which signifies king of kings, being the 
sovereign potentate of the Tartars. This magnificent 
prince received them with great distinction. He made 
inquiries about the countries and princes of the West, 
their civil and military government, and the manners 
and customs of the Latin nations. 

After one return to the Levant they took a second 
journey, and this time took Marco Polo with them. 
He was gone twenty-four years. On their return, when 
they arrived at Venice, they were known by nobody. 
So many years had elapsed since their departure, with- 
out any tidings of them, that they were either forgotten 
or considered dead. 

They repaired to their own house, which was a noble 
palace, afterwards known by the name of la Corte de la 
Milione. They found several of their relatives still 
inhabiting it ; but they were slow in recollecting the 
travellers, not knowing of their wealth, and probably 
considering them poor adventurers, returned to be a 
charge upon their families. The Polos, however, took 
an effectual mode of quickening the memories of their 
friends, and ensuring themselves a loving reception. 
They invited them all to a grand banquet. The guests 



1295-98. MARCO POLO'S TREASURE. 1 3 

were lost in astonishment, and could not comprehend 
the meaning of this masquerade, when, having dis- 
missed all the attendants, Marco Polo brought forth 
the coarse Tartar dresses in which they had arrived. 
Slashing them in several places with a knife, and ripping 
open the seams and linings, there tumbled forth a vast 
quantity of precious jewels, such as rubies, sapphires, 
emeralds, and diamonds. The whole table glittered 
with inestimable wealth, which they had acquired from 
the munificence of the Grand Khan, and which they 
had conveyed in this portable form through the perils 
of their long journey. 

The company, observes Ramusio, were out of their 
wits with amazement, and now clearly perceived what 
they had at first doubted, that these in very truth were 
those honored and valiant gentlemen, the Polos, and 
accordingly paid them great respect and reverence. 

Some months after their return, Lampo Doria, com- 
mander of the Genoese navy, appeared in the vicinity of 
the island of Cuzzola, with seventy galleys. Andrea 
Dandolo, the Venetian admiral, was sent against him. 
Marco Polo commanded a galley of the fleet. His 
usual good fortune deserted him. Advancing the first 
in the line with his galley, and not being properly sec- 
onded, he was taken prisoner, and thrown in irons, 
and carried to Genoa. Here he was detained for a long 
time in prison, and all offers of ransom rejected. His 
imprisonment gave great uneasiness to his father and 
uncle, fearing that he might never return. Seeing them- 
selves in this unhappy state, with so much treasure, and 
no heirs, they consulted together. They were both very 
old men ; but Nicolo, observes Ramusio, was of a gal- 



14 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1298. 

Hard complexion. It was determined he should take a 
wife, and he did so. 

In the meanwhile, the fame of Marco Polo's travels 
had circulated in Genoa. His prison was daily crowded 
with the nobility, and he was supplied with everything 
that could cheer him in his confinement. A Genoese 
gentleman, who visited him every day, at length prevailed 
on him to write an account of what he had seen. He 
had his papers and journals sent to him from Venice, 
and with the assistance of his friend produced the 
book which afterwards made such noise throughout the 
world. 

" So, you see," said Uncle Fritz, " that the poor rich 
man wrote in prison, far away from home, and with such 
journals and notes as had escaped wars, shipwrecks, and 
travel." 

Bedford and two of the girls seized on one volume of 
Col. Yule's book, — which is a good edition of " Marco 
Polo," — and Laura and two of the boys seized on an- 
other. There are very amusing and instructive pictures ; 
and the young people were delighted as they turned 
from chapter to chapter. Meanwhile, Uncle Fritz was 
questioning the others about their summer travels ; and 
all the talk was running on adventure. 

" This is a very good day for ' Marco Polo,' " said he ; 
" for what with Oregon, and Colorado Springs, and the 
Saguenay River, you have travelled about as far this 
summer as the Venetian gentlemen did in all those 
years. Bedford, have you found nothing you can read 
to us ? " 

And, after a minute's conference, Bedford selected 
and read — 



129S. MARK SENT ON AN EMBASSY. I 5 



HOW THE EMPEROR SENT MARK ON AN EMBASSY. 

Now it came to pass that Marco, the son of Messer" 
Nicolo, sped wondrously in learning the customs of the 
Tartars as well as their language, their manner of writ- 
ing, and their practice of war, — in fact, he came in brief 
space to know several languages, and four sundry writ- 
ten characters ; and he was discreet and prudent in 
every way, insomuch that the emperor held him in great 
esteem. And so, when he discerned Mark to have so 
much sense, and to conduct himself so well and beseem- 
ingly, he sent him on an ambassage of his to a country 
which was a good six months' journey distant. The 
young gallant executed his commission well, and with 
discretion. Now, he had taken note on several occasions 
that, when the prince's ambassadors returned from differ- 
ent parts of the world, they were able to tell him about 
nothing except the business on which they had gone ; 
and the prince, in consequence, held them for no better 
than fools and dolts, and would say, " I had far liever 
hearken about the strange things and the manners of 
the different countries you have seen than merely be 
told of the business you went upon," — for he took great 
delight in hearing of the affairs of strange countries. 
Mark, therefore, as he went and returned, took great 
pains to learn about all kinds of different matters in the 
countries which he visited, in order to be able to tell 
about them to the Great Kaan. 

When Mark returned from his ambassage, he pre- 
sented himself before the emperor ; and, after making 
his report of the business with which he was charged, 
and its successful accomplishment, he went on to give 



1 6 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1271-95. 

an account, in a pleasant and intelligent manner, of all 
the novelties and strange things that he had seen and 
heard, insomuch that the emperor and all such as heard 
his story were surprised, and said, " If this young man 
live, he will assuredly come to be a person of great 
worth and ability." And so, from that time forward, he 
was always entitled Messer Marco Polo • and thus we 
shall style him henceforth in this book of ours, as is 
but right. 

Then Bedford turned over to a place where Mary Long 
had put in a mark, and read — 

OF THE GREAT COUNTRY OF PERSIA, WITH SOME 
ACCOUNT OF THE THREE KINGS. 

Persia is a great country, which was in old times very 
illustrious and powerful ; but now the Tartars have 
wasted and destroyed it. In Persia is the city of Saba, 
from which the three magi set out, when they went to 
worship Jesus Christ ; and in this city they are buried, 
in three very large and beautiful monuments, side by side. 
And above them there is a square building carefully 
kept. The bodies are still entire, with the hair and beard 
remaining. One of these was called Jasper, the second 
Melchoir, and the third Balthasar. Messer Marco Polo 
asked a great many questions of the people of that city 
as to those three magi ; but never one could he find that 
knew aught of the matter, except that these were three 
kings, who were buried there in days of old. However, 
at a place three days' journey distant, he heard of what 
I am going to tell you. He found a village there which 
goes by the name of Cala Atapetistan, which is as much 



1271-95- PERSIA AND THE THREE KINGS. \J 

as to say, " The Castle of the Fire-worshippers " ; and 
the name is rightly applied, for the people there do wor- 
ship fire, and I will tell you why. They relate that, in 
old times, three kings of that country went away to wor- 
ship a prophet that was born ; and they carried with 
them three manner of offerings, — gold and frankin- 
cense and myrrh, — in order to ascertain whether that 
prophet were God or an earthly king or a physician. 
" For," said they, " if he take the gold, then he is an 
earthly king ; if he take the incense, he is God ; if he 
take the myrrh, he is a physician." So it came to 
pass, when they had come to the place where the Child 
was born, the youngest of the three kings went in first, 
and found the Child apparently just of his own age ; so 
he went forth again, marvelling greatly. The middle one 
entered next, and, like the first, he found the Child seem- 
ingly of his own age ; so he also went forth again, and 
marvelled greatly. Lastly, the eldest went in, and as it 
had befallen the other two, so it befel him ; and he went 
forth very pensive. 

And when the three had rejoined one another, each 
told what he had seen ; and then they all marvelled the 
more. So they all agreed to go in all three together ; 
and on doing so, they beheld the Child with the appear- 
ance of its actual age, — to wit, some thirteen days. 
Then they adored, and presented their gold and incense 
and myrrh ; and the Child took all the three offerings, 
and then gave them a small closed box : whereupon the 
kings departed to return into their own land. 

And when they had ridden many days they said 
they would see what the Child had given them. So 
they opened the little box ; and inside it they found a 
stone. On seeing this they began to wonder what this 



1 8 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1271-95. 

might be that the Child had given them, and what was 
the import thereof. Now the signification was this : 
when they presented their offerings, the Child accepted 
all three ; and when they saw that, they had said within 
themselves that he was the True God, and the True 
King, and the True Physician. And what the gift of 
the stone implied was that this Faith which had begun 

m o 

in them should abide firm as a rock. For he well knew 
what was in their thoughts. Howbeit they had no un- 
derstanding at all of this signification of the gift of the 
stone, so they cast it into a well. Then straightway a 
fire from heaven descended into that well wherein the 
stone had been cast. And when the Three Kings be- 
held this marvel they were sore amazed, and it greatly 
repented them that they had cast away the stone • for 
well they then perceived that it had a great and holy 
meaning. So they took of that fire, and carried it into 
their own country, and placed it in a rich and beautiful 
church. And there the people keep it continually burn- 
ing, and worship it as a god ; and all the sacrifices they 
offer are kindled with that fire. And if ever the fire 
becomes extinct they go to other cities round about, 
where the same faith is held, and obtain of that fire 
from them, and carry it to the church. And this is the 
reason why the people of this country worship fire. 
They will often go ten days' journey to get of that 
fire. 

The children were highly edified by finding this echo 
of the story of the wise men of the Bible, brought from 
the East, and asked Uncle Fritz if they might believe it, 
ever so little. He told them that, till Mahomet's time, 
all these countries were more or less under the rule 




MARCO POLO 



I2S6. HOW NAYAN WAS BEATEN. 1 9 

of Christian faith, though it were but limp faith, and 
stupid. It was quite possible that Messer Marco Polo 
might have found some legends there which he repeated 
here. 

" But I think," said Uncle Fritz, " that if you are go- 
ing to dip, before reading, you had better begin on 
Cublay Khan himself." 

" Cublay Khan ! " cried Fergus. " Are we to hear 
about Cublay Khan ? " 

" Why, what do you know about Cublay Khan ? " 
cried Mary Long. 

" Do you not remember, — ' Mustapha, Rubadub, Cu- 
blay Khan ' ? " 

"I do not think you say it right. But hush ! Horace 
is going to begin." 

So Horace began : — 



HOW NAYAN WAS BEATEN. 

Now am I come to that part of our book in which I 
shall tell you of the great and wonderful magnificence 
of the Great Kaan now reigning, by name Cublay 
Kaan, — Kaan being a title which signifieth " the Great 
Lord of Lords," or Emperor. And of a surety he hath 
good right to such a title ; for all men know for a cer- 
tain truth that he is the most potent man, as regards 
forces and lands and treasure, that existeth in the world, 
or ever hath existed, from the time of our First Father, 
Adam, until this day. 

"That was probably true," interrupted Col. Ing- 
ham. 

All this I will make clear to you for truth, in this book 
of ours, so that every one shall be fain to acknowledge 



20 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1286. 

that he is the greatest lord that is now in the world, or 
ever hath been. And now, ye shall hear how and 
wherefore. 

There was a great Tartar chief, whose name was Nayan, 
a young man of thirty, lord over many lands and many 
provinces ; and he was uncle to the Emperor Cublay 
Kaan, of whom we are speaking. And when he found 
himself in authority, this Nayan waxed proud in the in- 
solence of his youth and his great power ; for indeed he 
could bring into the field three hundred thousand horse- 
men, though all the time he was liegeman to his nephew, 
the Great Kaan Cublay, as was right and reason. Seeing, 
then, what great power he had, he took it into his head 
that he would be the Great Kaan's vassal no longer : nay, 
more, he would fain wrest his empire from him, if he 
could. So this Nayan sent envoys to another Tartar 
prince, called Caidu, also a great and potent lord, who 
was a kinsman of his, and who was a nephew of the 
Great Kaan, and his lawful liegeman also, though he was 
in rebellion, and at bitter enmity with his sovereign lord 
and uncle. Now, the message that Nayan sent was this : 
that he himself was making ready to march against the 
Great Kaan with all his forces, which were great, and he 
begged Caidu to do likewise from his side, so that by 
attacking Cublay on two sides at once with such great 
forces they would be able to wrest his dominion from 
him. And when Caidu heard the message of Nayan, 
he was right glad thereat, and thought the time was 
come at last to gain his object ; so he sent back an- 
swer that he would do as requested, and got ready his 
host, which mustered a good hundred thousand horse- 
men. 



12S6. HOW NAY AN WAS BEATEN. 21 

Now, let us go back to the Great Kaan, who had news 
of all this plot. 

When the Great Kaan heard what was afoot, he 
made his preparations in right good heart, like one who 
feared not the issue of an attempt so contrary to justice. 
Confident in his own conduct and prowess, he was in 
no degree disturbed, but vowed that he would never 
wear crown again if he brought not those two traitorous 
and disloyal Tartar chiefs to an ill end. So swiftly and 
secretly were his preparations made that no one knew of 
them but his privy council, and all were completed 
within ten or twelve days. In that time he had assembled 
good three hundred and sixty thousand horsemen and 
one hundred thousand footmen, — but a small force, in- 
deed, for him, and consisting only of those that were in 
the vicinity ; for the rest of his vast and innumerable 
forces were too far off to answer so hasty a sum- 
mons, being engaged under orders from him on dis- 
tant expeditions to conquer divers countries and 
provinces. If he had waited to summon all his troops, 
the multitude assembled would have been beyond all 
belief ; a multitude such as never was heard of, or 
told of, past all counting ! In fact, those three hun- 
dred and sixty thousand horsemen that he got to- 
gether consisted merely of the falconers and whippers-in 
that were about the court ! And when he got ready this 
handful, as it were, of his troops, he ordered his as- 
trologers to declare whether he should gain the battle, 
and get the better of his enemies. After they had made 
their observations they told him to go on boldly, for he 
would conquer and gain a glorious victory ; whereat he 
greatly rejoiced. So he marched with his army ; and after 
advancing for twenty days they arrived at a great plain, 



22 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 12S6. 

where Nayan lay with all his host, amounting to some 
four hundred thousand horse. Now, the Great Kaan's 
forces arrived so fast and so suddenly that the others 
knew nothing of the matter ; for the Kaan had caused 
such strict watch to be made in every direction for 
scouts that every one that appeared was instantly cap- 
tured. Thus Nayan had no warning of his coming, and 
was completely taken by surprise, insomuch that, when 
the Great Kaan's army came up, he was asleep ; so thus 
you see why it was that the emperor equipped his force 
with such speed and secrecy. Of the battle which the 
Great Kaan fought with Nayan, what shall I say 
about it? 

When day had well broken, there was the Kaan, with 
all his host, upon a hill overlooking the plain where 
Nayan lay in his tent, in all security, without the slight- 
est thought of any one coming thither to do him hurt. 
In fact, this confidence of his was such that he kept no 
videttes, whether in front or in rear ; for he knew nothing 
of the coming of the Great Kaan, owing to all the ap- 
proaches having been completely occupied, as I told you. 
Moreover, the place was in a remote wilderness, more 
than thirty marches from the court, — though the Kaan 
had made the distance in twenty, so eager was he to come 
to battle with Nayan. And what shall I tell you next ? 
The Kaan was there on the hill, mounted on a great 
wooden bartizan, which was borne by four well-trained 
elephants ; and over him was hoisted his standard, so high 
aloft that it could be seen from all sides. His troops 
were ordered in battles of thirty thousand men apiece, 
and a great part of the horsemen had each a foot-soldier, 
armed with a lance, set on the crupper behind him (for 
it was thus that the footmen were disposed of) ; and the 



1286. VICTORY OF THE GREAT KAAJV. 23 

whole plain seemed to be covered with his forces. So it 
was thus that the Great Kaan's army was arrayed for bat- 
tle. When Nayan and his people saw what had happened, 
they were sorely confounded, and rushed in haste to arms. 
Nevertheless, they made them ready in good style, and 
formed their troops in an orderly manner. And when 
all were in battle array on both sides, as I have told you, 
and nothing remained but to fall to blows, then might 
you have heard a sound arise of many instruments of 
various music, and of the voices of the whole of the two 
hosts loudly singing. 

For this is a custom of the Tartars, that before they 
join battle they all unite in singing and playing on a 
certain two-stringed instrument of theirs, a thing right 
pleasant to hear, and so they continue in their array of 
battle, singing and playing in this pleasing manner, until 
the great Naccara of the prince is heard to sound. As 
soon as that begins to sound the fight also begins on 
both sides ; and in no case before the prince's Naccara 
sounds dare any commence fighting. 

So, then, as they were thus singing and playing, though 
ordered and ready for battle, the great Naccara of the 
Great Kaan began to sound, and that of Nayan also began 
to sound, and thenceforward the din of battle began to be 
heard loudlyfrom this side and from that, and they rushed 
to work so doughtily with their bows and their maces, with 
their lances and swords, and with the arblests of the 
footmen, that it was a wondrous sight to see. Now 
might you behold such flights of arrows from this side 
and from that, that the whole heaven was canopied with 
them, and they fell like rain. Now might you see on 
this side and on that full many a cavalier and man-at- 
arms fall slain, insomuch that the whole field seemed 



24 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1286. 

covered with them. From this side and from that such 
cries arose from the crowds of the wounded and dying 
that had God thundered you would not have heard 
Him. For fierce and furious was the battle, and quarter 
there was none given ; but why should I make a long 
story of it ? You must know that it was the most parlous 
and fierce and fearful battle that has ever been fought 
in our day. Nor have there ever been such forces in 
the field in actual fight, especially of horsemen, as were 
then engaged ; for, taking both sides, there were not 
fewer than seven hundred and sixty thousand horse- 
men,: — a mighty force! — and that without reckoning 
the footmen, who were also very numerous. The 
battle endured with various fortune on this side and 
on that from morning till noon ; but at last, by God's 
pleasure and the right that was on his side, the Great 
Kaan had the victory, and Nayan lost the battle and 
was utterly routed. For the army of the Great Kaan 
performed such feats of arms that Nayan and his host 
could stand against them no longer, so they turned 
and fled ; but this availed nothing for Nayan, for he 
and all the barons with him were taken prisoners and 
had to surrender to the Kaan with all their arms. 

Now you must know that Nayan was a baptized Chris- 
tian, and bore the Cross on his banner, but this nought 
availed him, seeing how grievously he had done amiss 
in rebelling against his lord. For he was the Great 
Kaan's liegeman, and was bound to hold his lands of 
him like all his ancestors before him. 

The scale of this fighting satisfied even Bedford, who 
is notorious for his passion for a good fight. Uncle 
Fritz told them that if they would look further they 



12S6. THE CHRISTIANS' CROSS. 2$ 

would see that military rockets were used in this battle, or 
something which resembled rockets more than cannon. 

While they were talking, Horace and Fred looked 
further, and when there was a lull read — 

And after the Great Kaan had conquered Nayan, as 
you have heard, it came to pass that the different kinds 
of people who were present, Saracens and idolaters and 
Jews, and many others that believed not in God, did 
gibe those that were Christians because of the Cross 
that Nayan had borne on his standard, and that so 
grievously that there was no bearing it. Thus they 
would say to the Christians : " See now what precious 
help this God's Cross of yours hath rendered Nayan, 
who was a Christian and a worshipper thereof." And 
such a din arose about the matter that it reached the 
Great Kaan's own ears. When it did so, he sharply 
rebuked those who cast these gibes at the Christians, 
and he also bade the Christians be of good heart, "for 
if the Cross had rendered no help to Nayan, in that It 
had done right well, nor could that which was good, as 
It was, have done otherwise ; for Nayan was a disloyal 
and traitorous rebel against his lord, and well deserved 
that which had befallen him. Wherefore the Cross of 
your God did well in that It gave him no help against 
the right." And this he said so loud that everybody 
heard him. The Christians then replied to the Great 
Kaan : " Great King, you say the truth indeed, for our 
Cross can render no one help in wrong-doing, and there- 
fore it was that It aided not Nayan, who was guilty of 
crime and disloyalty, for It would take no part in his 
evil deeds." And so thenceforward no more was heard 
of the floutings of the unbelievers against the Christians ; 



26 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1286. 

for they heard very well what the sovereign said to the 
latter about the Cross on Nayan's banner, and Its giving 
him no help. 

POST HOUSES. 

Now you must know that from this city of Cambaluc 
proceed many roads and highways leading to a variety 
of provinces, one to one province, another to another, 
and each road receives the name of the province to 
which it leads ; and it is a very sensible plan, and the 
messengers of the emperor in travelling from Cambaluc, 
be the road whichsoever they will, find at every twenty- 
five miles of the journey a station which they call 
" Yamb," or, as we should say, the "Horse-Post-House." 
And at each of those stations used by the messengers 
there is a large and handsome building for them to put 
up at, in which they find all the rooms furnished with 
fine beds and all other necessary articles in rich silk, 
and where they are provided with everything they can 
want. If even a king were to arrive at one of these 
he would find himself well lodged. 

At some of these stations, moreover, there shall be 
posted some four hundred horses standing ready for the 
use of the messengers ; at others there shall be two hun- 
dred, according to the requirements, and to what the em- 
peror has established in each case. At every twenty-five 
miles, as I said, or anyhow at every thirty miles, you find 
one of these stations on all the principal highways leading 
to the different provincial governments, and the same is 
the case throughout all the chief provinces subject to 
the Great Kaan ; even when the messengers have to pass 
through a roadless tract where neither house nor hostel 
exists, still there the station-houses have been estab- 



1286. POST HOUSES. 2J 

lished just the same, excepting that the intervals are 
somewhat greater, and the day's journey is fixed at 
thirty-five to forty-five miles, instead of twenty-five to 
thirty. But they are provided with horses and all the 
other necessaries just like those we have described, so 
that the emperor's messengers, come they from what 
region they may, find everything ready for them. 

And in sooth this is a thing done on the greatest scale 
of magnificence that ever was seen. Never had emperor, 
king, or lord such wealth as this manifests ! For it is a 
fact that on all these posts taken together there are 
more than three hundred thousand horses kept up 
specially for the use of the messengers. And the great 
buildings that I have mentioned are more than ten 
thousand in number, all richly furnished as I told you. 
The thing is on a scale so wonderful and costly that it 
is hard to bring one's self to describe it. 

But now I will tell you another thing that I had forgot- 
ten, but which ought to be told whilst I am on this subject. 
You must know that by the Great Kaan's orders there has 
been established between those post-houses, at every in- 
terval of three miles, a little fort, with some forty houses 
round about it, in which dwell the people who act as the 
emperor's foot-runners. Every one of those runners wears 
a great wide belt, set all over with bells, so that as they 
run the three miles from post to post their bells are 
heard jingling a long way off. And thus on reaching 
the post the runner finds another man similarly equipt, 
and all ready to take his place, who instantly takes over 
whatsoever he has in charge, and with it receives a slip 
of paper from the clerk, who is always at hand for the 
purpose ; and so the new man sets off and runs his three 
miles. At the next station he finds his relief ready in 



28 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1286. 

like manner; and so the post proceeds, with a change at 
every three miles. And in this way the emperor, who 
has an immense number of these runners, receives 
despatches with news from places ten days' journey off 
in one day and night ; or, if need be, news from a hun- 
dred days off in ten days and nights, and that is no 
small matter ! In fact, in the fruit season, many a time 
fruit shall be gathered one morning in Cambaluc, and 
the evening of the next day it shall reach the Great 
Kaan at Chandu, a distance of ten days' journey. 

The clerk at each of the posts notes the time of 
each courier's arrival and departure; and there are often 
other officers, whose business it is to make monthly visi- 
tations of all the posts, and to punish those runners 
who have been slack in their work. The emperor 
exempts these men from all tribute, and pays them 
beside. 

Moreover, there are also at those stations other men, 
equipt similarly with girdles hung with bells, who are 
employed for expresses when there is a call for great 
haste in sending despatches to any governor of a prov- 
ince, or to give news when any baron has revolted, or 
in other such emergencies ; and these men travel a 
good two hundred or two hundred and fifty miles in 
the day, and as much in the night. I '11 tell you how it 
stands. They take a horse from those at the station, 
which are standing ready saddled, all fresh and in wind, 
and mount and go at full speed, as hard as they can 
ride, in fact. And when those at the next post hear 
the bells, they get ready another horse and a man 
equipt in the same way, and he takes over the letter or 
whatever it be, and is off full speed to the third station, 
where again a fresh horse is found all ready, and so the 



12S6. POST HOUSES. 29 

despatch speeds along from post to post, always at full 
gallop, with regular change of horses. And the speed 
at which they go is marvellous. By night, however, 
they cannot go so fast as by day, because they have to 
be accompanied by footmen with torches, who could not 
keep up with them at full speed. 

Those men are highly prized ; and they could never 
do it did they not bind hard the stomach, chest, and 
head with strong bands. And each of them carries with 
him a gerfalcon tablet, in sign that he is bound on an 
urgent express ; so that if perchance his horse break 
down, or he meet with other mishap, whomsoever he 
may fall in with on the road, he is empowered to make 
him dismount and give up his horse. Nobody dares 
refuse in such a case ; so that the courier hath always 
a good fresh nag to carry him. 

Now all these numbers of post-horses cost the emper- 
or nothing at all ; and I will tell you the how and the 
why. Every city, or village, or hamlet that stands near 
one of these post-stations has a fixed demand made on 
it for as many horses as it can supply, and these it must 
furnish to the post. And in this way are provided all 
the posts of the cities, as well as the towns and villages 
round about them ; only in uninhabited tracts the horses 
are furnished at the expense of the emperor himself. 

How far all this was true, the children were then 
eager to know. But Uncle Fritz told them that, as 
to that, they must look at Col. Yule's very interesting 
notes. And while they clustered around him and Laura, 
who had the second volume, all looking at the maps 
and pictures, Ellen Mahony came in and said that tea 
was on the table. 



30 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1286. 

Col. Yule's edition of Marco Polo was published by- 
Murray, in London, in 1875. As has been said above, 
it should be in every public library which means to 
provide for intelligent readers. 



II. 



SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE AND THE 
CRUSADES. 

COL. INGHAM was well pleased, when his boys 
and girls clustered round him the next Saturday, 
to find how many copies of " Marco Polo " they had 
found in different libraries, and how much of it they had 
read, in one reading-circle and another. They found in 
it manifold illustrations of the " Arabian Nights," which, 
in its best form, — Lane's translation, — is a favorite 
book in our little circle. 

They began to understand what Uncle Fritz had 
meant, when he said that Marco Polo seemed accurate 
when he described what he saw, and that his exaggera- 
tions, or what people called his lies, came in when he 
was repeating stories which other people had told. 

Esther asked him who Mandeville was, of whom he had 
said the same thing. 

" Mandeville was an Englishman, — Sir John Mande- 
ville, — who went to Constantinople, Egypt, Palestine, 
Armenia, and other countries of Western Asia a little 
less than two hundred years before Columbus sailed for 
America. The exact limits of his absence are said to be 
the years 1322 and 1356. It was as dark a time as there 
was in the Dark Ages. He was in the military service 
of one of the Eastern princes, and had a chance to see 



32 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1322-56. 

travellers from all lands, and to hear their stories. Peo- 
ple told stories in the East then, just as they do now, and 
as I sometimes hope they will, one day, do hear again. 

" For my part, when I am sitting in the rather dingy 
reading-room of a third-rate inn, in a fourth-rate town, 
waiting for my train, which is not to come till eleven at 
night, I should be very glad if a good story-teller would 
come in and sit down on a mat, and tell me either the 
story of Sindbad the Sailor or of Hiawatha and the 
Arrow-maker, or of his adventures in the Rebellion. 
When he passed his hat round, I should put in my five- 
cent piece much more willingly than I give it for the 
Torra-worra Tell-tale, which only gives me in brief the 
same news which I read in the Big Bow-wow the same 
morning. 

" Well, Sir John Mandeville heard these stories told 
by story-tellers, just as you may hear them to-day in 
Cairo or in Damascus. Whether he wrote them down 
at once, I do not know ; but at some time or other he 
wrote them down, and now the whole is mixed up to- 
gether, — what he saw himself with what travellers told 
him and with what story-tellers told him. 

" So you may find bits of ' Arabian Nights ' in Sir John 
Mandeville. 

" There is so much of this that there came to be a time 
when people thought he had rather lie than to tell the 
truth. 

" Indeed," said Uncle Fritz, " I can remember that 
at one time his name was spelled Man-Devil, as if he 
were quite outside of human nature ; but I believe there 
is now no doubt that this was his real name." 

Esther said she remembered, in Catlin's " Indians," 
that he told of some chiefs who had been taken all 



1322-56. S7A JOHN- MANDEVILLE. 33 

through the great cities, that they might understand the 
power of the whites, and, when they came back, were 
wholly disgraced and degraded, because they told such 
large stories that nobody could believe they were true. 

Uncle Fritz was well pleased with Esther's good 
memory, and said it was just so with Sir John Mande- 
ville. 

Bob Edmeston brought the book, which is in a very 
handy form. 1 In Bonn's Library, it is included with 
many other early journeys to Palestine. The young 
people knew the Antiquarian Library already. And it 
may be said to other young people, who have a little 
money to spend for books, that in Bonn's various " Li- 
braries" they get as much for their money — ■ if they find 
the book they want in the catalogue — as they can find 
anywhere. 

But the little book did not look as fascinating as the 
elegant, large pages crowded with illustrations of Marco 
Polo. 

Uncle Fritz told Bob that when he was a man, and 
had travelled all through Asia, he might edit an edition 
of Sir John Mandeville, as elegant as Col. Yule's of 
Marco Polo. 

" You will have to be satisfied now," said he, " by look- 
ing for my pencil-marks. Or turn to the end. See what 
I have noticed on the last page." 

So they turned to the last page, and found that Uncle 
Fritz had made an index of the things he liked in the 
book. This is always a good thing to do, — if the book 
is your own, of course. They read aloud the headings, 
and came to " The Lady changed into a Dragon." 

1 "Early Travels in Palestine." In Bonn's Antiquarian Library. 
3 



34 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1322-56. 

"That is the story in Morris's 'Earthly Paradise,'" 
said Uncle Fritz. "Look a little further." Esther read 
on, and he told her to turn back to the book, and read to 
them, when she found — 

HOW ROSES FIRST CAME INTO THE WORLD. 

From Hebron we proceed to Bethlehem in half a 
day, for it is but five miles ; and it is a very fair way, by 
pleasant plains and woods. Bethlehem is a little city, 
long and narrow and well-walled, and on each side 
enclosed with good ditches. It was formerly called 
Ephrata, as Holy Writ says, " Lo, we heard of it at 
Ephrata." And towards the east end of the city is a very 
fair and handsome church, with many towers, pinnacles, 
and corners, strongly and curiously made, and within are 
forty-four great and fair pillars of marble ; and between 
the city and the church is the Field Floridus, — that is to 
say, the field flourish-ed. For a fair maiden was blamed 
with wrong, and slandered, for which cause she was con- 
demned to be burned in that place ; and as the fire began 
to burn about her, she made her prayers to our Lord that, 
as truly as she was not guilty, he would by his merciful 
grace help her, and make it known to all men. And 
when she had thus said she entered into the fire, and 
immediately the fire was extinguished, and the fagots 
that were burning became red rose-bushes, and those 
that were not kindled became white rose-bushes, full of 
roses ; and these were the first rose-trees and roses, both 
white and red, that ever any man saw. And thus was 
this maiden saved by the grace of God ; and therefore 
is that field called the field that God flourished, for it 
was full of roses. 



1322-56. THE THIRD ROYAL MENDICANT. 35 

Then Esther turned to another place which had struck 
her eye, and read — 



OF THE ROCKS OF ADAMANT. 

In that island are ships without nails of iron or brass, 
on account of the rocks of adamant (loadstones). For 
they are all abundant thereabout in that sea, that it is 
marvellous to speak of ; and if a ship passed there that 
had either iron bands or iron nails, it would perish ; for 
the adamant, by its nature, draws iron to it, and so it 
would draw it to the ship, because of the iron, that it 
should never depart from it. 

"That," cried Bob Edmerton, "was what happened to 
Sindbad." 

"Oh, no ; not to Sindbad ! " said all the others. 

Uncle Fritz confessed that he thought it was to 
Sindbad. This was a great triumph for the little 
troop. "To think," said Tom Rising, "that we should 
bowl out Uncle Fritz on the ' Arabian Nights ' ! I 
thought he knew the ' Arabian Nights ' by heart." So 
the " Arabian Nights " (in Lane's version) was sent for, 
and Tom Rising read aloud from the story of " The 
Third Royal Mendicant." 

" A royal mendicant," said Uncle Fritz, " is what was 
called a 'calendar,' when I was a boy." 

THE STORY OF THE THIRD ROYAL MENDICANT. 

So he went aloft, and when he had come down he said 
to the captain, " I saw, on my right hand, fish floating 
upon the surface of the water, and, looking towards the 



36 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1322-56. 

midst of the sea, I perceived something looming in the 
distance, — sometimes black and sometimes white." 

When the captain heard this report of the watch, he 
threw his turban on the deck, and plucked his beard, and 
said to those who were with him, " Receive warning of 
our destruction, which will befall all of us : not one will 
escape." So saying, he began to weep ; and all of us, 
in like manner, bewailed our lot. I desired him to in- 
form us of that which the watch had seen. The watch 
said, " To-morrow we shall arrive at a mountain of black 
stone, called loadstone : the current is now bearing us 
violently toward it, and the ship will fall in pieces ; for 
God hath given to the loadstone a secret property, by 
virtue of which everything of iron is attracted toward it. 
On that mountain is such a quantity of iron as no one 
knoweth but God, whose name be exalted ! for from times 
of old great numbers of ships have been destroyed by 
the influence of that mountain." 

On the following morning we drew near to the moun- 
tain ; the current carried us toward it with violence, 
and when the ships were almost close to it, they fell 
asunder, and all the nails, and everything else that was 
of iron, flew from them toward the loadstone. It was 
near the close of the day when the ship fell in pieces. 
Some of us were drowned, and some escaped ; but the 
greater number were drowned, and of those who saved 
their lives, none knew what became of the others, so 
stupefied were they by the waves and the boisterous 
wind. 

After they had looked up the other passages, which 
are somewhat like this, in the Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the 
Sailor, they came back to Sir John Mandeville. They 



1322-56. THE GREAT CHAN OF CATHAY. 37 

found the story of the rich man Gathenabes, and his false 
Paradise, the same that is told of the King of the As- 
sassins. This was in the mysterious land of Prester 
John. They found the happy story of the " Island of 
Bragman," which some men call the Land of Faith. 
Then they found the description of the Terrestrial 
Paradise, which poor Mandeville could not reach from 
the East Indies, better than poor Columbus could from 
the West. 1 They found about the country where the 
gentleman has such long nails that he may take noth- 
ing, nor handle anything. 

Then they found — and this was a great relief to 
Sybil — that after all these travels, Sir John returned to 
Rome, and "was absolved of all that lay in my con- 
science of many grievous points." For notwithstanding 
Uncle Fritz's excuses for Sir John, Sybil was sadly 
afraid that he needed absolution for the master sin of 
lying ; and if he ever repented of it, Sybil was glad. 

Before she laid down the book she read one extract 



OF THE GREAT CHAN OF CATHAY. 

In this city (Caydon) is the seat of the Great chan, 2 
in a very great palace, the fairest of the world, the 
walls of which are in circuit more than two miles ; and 
within the walls it is all full of other palaces. And 
in the garden of the great palace there is a great hill, 
upon which is another palace, the fairest and richest 
that any man may devise. And all about the palace 

1 See " Stories of the Sea." 

a We follow the spelling of the old English versions, even when they 
vary from each other. 



38 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1322-56. 

and the hill are many trees bearing divers fruits. And 
all about that hill are great and deep ditches, and 
beside them are great fish-ponds on both sides ; and 
there is a very fair bridge to pass over the ditches. 
And in these fish-ponds are an extraordinary number of 
wild geese and ganders, and wild ducks and swans and 
herons. And all about these ditches and fish-ponds is 
the great garden, full of wild beasts, so that when the 
Great chan will have any sport, to take any of the wild 
beasts or the fowls, he will cause them to be driven, 
and take them at the windows, without going out of his 
chamber. Within the palace, in the hall, there are 
twenty-four pillars of fine gold; and all the walls are 
covered within with red skins of animals called pan- 
thers, fair beasts and well-smelling ; so that for the 
sweet odor of the skins, no evil air may enter into 
the palace. 

The skins are as red as blood, and shine so bright 
against the sun that a man may scarcely look at them. 
And many people worship the beasts when they meet 
them first in a morning, for their great virtue and for 
the good smell that they have ; and the skins they value 
more than if they were plates of fine gold. 

And in the middle of the palace is the mountour a of 
the Great chan, all wrought of gold and of precious 
stones and of great pearls ; and at the four corners are 
four serpents of gold ; and all about there are made 
large nets of silk and gold, and great pearls hanging all 
about it. And under the mountour are conduits of 
beverage that they drink in the emperor's court. And 
beside the conduits are many vessels of gold, with which 

1 Mountour, — an old English rendering of the French mountagnette, 
meaning a raised platform. 



1322-56. THE GREAT CHAN OF CATHAY. 39 

they that are of the household drink at the conduit. 
The hall of the palace is full nobly arrayed, and full 
marvellously attired on all parts in all things that men 
apparel any hall with. 

And first, at the head of the hall, is the emperor's 
throne, very high, where he sits at meat. It is of fine 
precious stones, bordered all about with purified gold 
and precious stones and great pearls. And the steps 
up to the table are of precious stones, mixed with gold. 
And at the left side of the emperor's seat is the seat of 
his first wife, one step lower than the emperor ; and it is 
of jasper bordered with gold, and the seat of his second 
wife is lower than his first wife, and is also of jasper bor- 
dered with gold, as that other is. And the seat of the 
third wife is still lower by a step than the second wife's, 
for he has always three wives with him, wherever he is. 
And after his wives, on the same side, sit the ladies of 
his lineage, still lower, according to their ranks. And 
all those that are married have a counterfeit, made like 
a man's foot, upon their heads, a cubit long, all wrought 
with great, fine, and orient pearls, and above made with 
peacock's feathers, and of other shining feathers ; and that 
stands upon their heads like a crest, in token that they 
are under man's foot, and under subjection of man. 
But the other ladies, that are unmarried, have none 
such. And after, at the right side of the emperor, first 
sits his eldest son, who shall reign after him, one step 
lower than the emperor, in such manner of seats as do 
the empresses ; and after him, other great lords of his 
lineage, each of them a step lower than the other, 
according to their rank. The emperor has his table 
alone by himself, and each of his wives has also her 
table by herself. And his eldest son, and the other 



40 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1322. 

lords also, and the ladies, and all that sit with the em- 
peror, have very rich tables, alone by themselves. And 
under the emperor's table sit four clerks, who write all 
that the emperor says, be it good or evil; for all that 
he says must be held good ; for he may not change 
his word nor revoke it. 

At great feasts men bring, before the emperor's table, 
great tables of gold, and thereon are peacocks of gold, 
and many other kinds of different fowls, all of gold, and 
richly wrought and enamelled ; and they make them 
dance and sing, clapping their wings together, and mak- 
ing great noise ; and whether it be by craft or by necro- 
mancy I know not, but it is a goodly sight to behold. 
But I have the less marvel because they are the most 
skilful men in the world in all sciences and in all crafts ; 
for in subtilty, malice, and forethought they surpass all 
men under heaven ; and, therefore, they say themselves 
that they see with two eyes, and Christians see with but 
one, because they are more subtle than they. . . . 

Nevertheless the truth is this, — that Tartars, and 
they that dwell in Greater Asia, came of Cham, but 
the emperor of Cathay was called not Cham, but Chan ; 
and I shall tell you how. It is but little more than 
eight score years since all Tartary was in subjection 
and servage to other nations about; for they were but 
herdsmen, and did nothing but keep beasts, and lead 
them to pastures. But among them they had seven 
principal nations that were sovereigns of them all, of 
which the first nation or lineage was called Tartar; and 
that is the most noble and the most praised. The 
second lineage is called Tanghot ; the third, Eurache ; 
the fourth, Valair; the fifth, Semoche; the sixth, Megly; 
the seventh, Coboghe. Now it befell that of the first 



1322. ORIGIN OF TARTARS. 41 

lineage succeeded an old worthy man, and was not rich, 
who was called Changuys. This man lay one night in 
bed, and he saw in a vision that there came before him 
a knight, armed all in white, and he sat upon a white 
horse, and said to him, " Chan, sleepest thou ? The 
immortal God hath sent me to thee ; and it is his will 
that thou go to the seven lineages, and say to them that 
thou shalt be their emperor ; for thou shalt conquer the 
lands and the countries that are about ; and they that 
march upon you shall be under your subjection, as you 
have been under theirs; for that is God's immortal will." 
Changuys arose, and went to the seven lineages and 
told them what the white knight had said. And they 
scorned him, and said that he was a fool ; and so he 
departed from them, all ashamed. And the night fol- 
lowing, this white knight came to the seven lineages 
and commanded them, on behalf of the immortal God, 
that they should make this Changuys their emperor, 
and they should be out of subjection, and they should 
hold all other regions about them in servage, as they 
had been to them before. And next day they chose 
him to be their emperor, and set him upon a black 
chest, and after that lifted him up with great solemnity, 
and set him in a chair of gold, and did him all manner 
of reverence ; and they called him Chan, as the white 
knight called him. And when he was thus chosen, 
he would make trial if he must trust in them or not, 
and whether they would be obedient to him ; and then 
he made many statutes and ordinances, that they call 
Ysya Chan. 

The first statute was, that they should believe in and 
obey immortal God, who is almighty, and who would 
cast them out of servage ; and they should at all 



42 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1322. 

times call to him for help in time of need. The second 
statute was that all manner of men that might bear 
arms should be numbered, and to every ten should be 
a master, and to every hundred a master, and to every 
thousand a master, and to every ten thousand a master. 
After, he commanded the principals of the seven line- 
ages to leave and forsake all they had in goods and 
heritage, and from thenceforth to be satisfied with 
what he would give them of his grace. And they did 
so immediately. After this he commanded the princi- 
pals of the seven lineages, that each should bring his 
eldest son before him, and with their own hands smite 
off their heads without delay. And immediately his 
command was performed. 

• And when the Chan saw that they made no obstacle 
to perform his commandment, then he thought that he 
might well trust in them ; and he commanded them 
presently to make them ready, and to follow his banner. 
And after this, the Chan put in subjection all the lands 
about him. Afterwards it befel on a day, that the Chan 
rode with a few companies to behold the strength of 
the country that he had won, and a great multitude of 
his enemies met with him ; and to give good example 
of bravery to his people, he was the first that fought, and 
rushed into the midst of his enemies, and there was 
thrown from his horse, and his horse slain. And when 
his people saw him on the earth, they were all discour- 
aged, and thought he had been dead, and fled every 
one ; and their enemies pursued them, but they knew 
not that the emperor was there. And when they were 
returned from the pursuit, they sought the woods, if any 
of them had been hid in them ; and many they found 
and slew. 



1322-56. rARADISE. 43 

So it happened that as they went searching toward 
the place where the emperor was, they saw an owl sitting 
on a tree above him ; and then they said amongst them 
that there was no man there, because they saw the bird 
there, and so they went their way ; and thus the emper- 
or escaped death. And then he went secretly by night, 
till he came to his people, who were very glad of his 
coming, and gave great thanks to immortal God, and to 
that bird by which their lord was saved ; and, therefore, 
above all fowls of the world, they worship the owl ; and 
when they have any of its feathers, they keep them full 
preciously instead of relics, and bear them upon their 
heads with great reverence ; and they hold themselves 
blessed, and safe from all perils, while they have these 
feathers on them, and therefore they bear them upon 
their heads. After all this the Chan assembled his 
people, and went against those who had assailed him 
before, and destroyed them, and put them in subjec- 
tion and servage. 

At this moment in the reading supper was announced ; 
but Clem begged them to wait a minute, while he read 
why Sir John Mandeville did not tell about Paradise. 

Blanche said that there was no need of explaining 
that ; but Clem persevered. 

" Of Paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not 
there." 

"That," said Horace, is like Cousin: 'I say nothing 
of Buddhism, because I know nothing about it.'" 

"If only everybody would be as thoughtful!" said 
Uncle Fritz. And Clem continued, though he was 
already losing his audience : — 

" It is far beyond, and I repent not going there, but 



44 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1322-56. 

I was not worthy." " I should think not," interrupted 
Blanche. " But as I have heard say of wise men be- 
yond, I shall tell you with good will. Terrestrial Para- 
dise, as wise men say, is the highest place of the earth, 
and it is so high that it nearly touches the circle of the 
moon there, as the moon makes her turn. For it is so 
high that the flood of Noah might not come to it that 
would have covered all the earth of the world all about, 
and above and beneath, except Paradise. And this 
Paradise is inclosed all about with a wall, and men 
know not whereof it is ; for the wall is covered all over 
with moss, as it seems, and it seems not that the wall is 
natural stone. And that wall stretches from the south 
to the north ; and it has but one entry, which is closed 
with burning fire, so that no man that is mortal dare 
enter." 

" So they were well rid of Mandeville," said Blanche, 
laughing; and she and Clem went in to their supper. 



III. 

BERTRANDON IN PALESTINE. 

WHEN the children met him the next week, Uncle 
Fritz said that as they had gone so far east in 
their two afternoons, they would do well to look over 
some of the accounts of the Crusaders' expeditions. 

The boys were well pleased at this suggestion. Some 
of them knew Froissart, and all of them had read 
"Ivanhoe," and "The Talisman," and "Count Robert 
of Paris." 

So Uncle Fritz sent again for the " Travels in Pales- 
tine," in the same volume of Bonn's Antiquarian Library, 
and Bedford first, and Esther afterward, read the ex- 
tracts he had marked for them from 

BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. 

To animate and inflame the hearts of such noble 
men as may be desirous of seeing the world, and by the 
order and command of the most high, most powerful, 
and my most redoubted lord, Philip, by the grace of 
God Duke of Burgundy, Lorraine, Brabant, and Lim- 
bourg, Count of Flanders, Artois, and Burgundy, Palatine 
of Hainault, Holland, Zealand, and Namur, Marquis of 
the Holy Empire, lord of Friesland, Salines, and Mech- 
lin, I, Bertrandon de la Brocquiere, a native of the duchy 
of Guienne, lord of Vieux-Chateau, counsellor and first 



46 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

esquire-carver to my aforesaid most redoubted lord, after 
bringing to my recollection every event, in addition to 
what I had made an abridgment of in a small book by 
way of memorandums, have fairly written out this ac- 
count of my short travels, in order that if any king or 
Christian prince should wish to make the conquest of 
Jerusalem, and lead thither an army overland, or if any 
gentleman should be desirous of travelling thither, they 
may be made acquainted with all the towns, cities, 
regions, countries, rivers, mountains, and passes, in the 
different districts, as well as the lords to whom they 
belong, from the duchy of Burgundy to Jerusalem. 

The route hence to the holy city of Rome is too well 
known for me to stop and describe it. I shall pass 
lightly over this article, and not say much until I come 
to Syria. . . . Gaza, situated in a fine country near the 
sea, and at the entrance of the desert, is a strong town, 
although uninclosed. It is pretended that it formerly 
belonged to the famous Samson. His palace is still 
shown, and also the columns of that which he pulled 
down ; but I dare not affirm that these are the same. 
Pilgrims are harshly treated there ; and we also should 
have suffered had it not been for the governor, a man 
about sixty years of age, and a Circassian, who heard 
our complaints and did us justice. 

Thrice were we obliged to appear before him ; once, 
on account of the swords we wore, and the two other 
times for quarrels which the Saracen moucres sought to 
have with us. Many of us wished to purchase asses ; 
for the camel has a very rough movement, which is 
extremely fatiguing to those unaccustomed to it. An 
ass is sold at Gaza for two ducats ; but the moucres 
not only wanted to prevent our buying any, but to force 



1432-33- A STRANGE BEAST. 47 

us to hire asses from them, at the price of five ducats, 
to St. Catherine's. This conduct was represented to 
the governor. For myself, who had hitherto ridden on 
a camel, and had no intention of changing, I desired 
they would tell me how I could ride a camel and an ass 
at the same time. The governor decided in our favor, 
and ordered that we should not be forced to hire any 
asses from the moucres against our inclinations. 

We here laid in fresh provisions necessary for the 
continuance of our journey; but, on the eve of our de- 
parture, four of my companions fell sick, and returned 
to Jerusalem. I set off with the five others, and we 
came to a village situated at the entrance of the desert, 
and the only one to be met with between Gaza and St. 
Catherine's. We thus travelled two days in the desert, 
absolutely without seeing anything deserving to be re- 
lated. Only one morning I saw, before sunrise, an animal 
running on four legs, about three feet long, but scarcely 
a palm in height. The Arabians fled at the sight of it, 
and the animal hastened to hide itself in a bush hard 
by. Sir Andrew and Pierre de Vandrei dismounted, 
and pursued it sword in hand, when it began to cry like 
a cat on the approach of a dog. Pierre de Vaudrei 
struck it on the back with the point of his sword, but 
did it no harm, from its being covered with scales like 
a sturgeon. It sprang at Sir Andrew, who, with a blow 
from his sword, cut the neck partly through, and flung 
it on its back with its feet in the air, and killed it. The 
head resembled that of a large hare; the feet were like 
the hands of a young child, with a pretty long tail, like 
that of the large green lizard. Our Arabs and inter- 
preter told us it was very dangerous. 

At the end of the second day's journey I was seized 



48 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

with such a burning fever that it was impossible for me 
to proceed. My four companions, distressed at this 
accident, made me mount an ass, and recommended me 
to one of our Arabs, whom they charged to reconduct 
me, if possible, to Gaza. This man took a great deal 
of care of me, which is unusual in respect to Christians. 
He faithfully kept me company, and led me in the even- 
ing to pass the night in one of their camps, which might 
consist of fourscore and some tents, pitched in the 
form of a street. These tents consist of two poles 
stuck in the ground by the bigger end, at a certain dis- 
tance from each other, and on them is placed another 
pole cross-way, and over this last is laid a thick cover- 
lid of woollen, or coarse hair. On my arrival, four or 
five Arabs, who were acquainted with my companion, 
came to meet us. They dismounted me from my ass, 
and laid me on a mattrass which I had with me, and 
then, treating me according to their method, kneaded 
and pinched me so much with their hands, that from 
fatigue and lassitude I slept, and reposed for six hours. 
During this time no one did me the least harm, nor 
took anything from me. It would, however, have been 
very easy for them to do so ; and I must have been a 
tempting prey, for I had with me two hundred ducats, 
and two camels laden with provision and wine. 

I set out on my return to Gaza before day ; but when 
I came thither, I found neither my four companions who 
had remained behind nor Sir Sanson de Lalaing : the 
whole five had returned to Jerusalem, carrying with them 
the interpreter. Fortunately I met with a Sicilian Jew, 
to whom I could make myself understood ; and he sent 
me an old Samaritan, who, by some medicines which he 
gave me, appeased the great heat I endured. Two 



1432-33- CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGE. 49 

days after, finding myself a little better, I set off in com- 
pany with a Moor, who conducted me by a river on the 
seaside. We passed near Ascalon, and thence traversed 
an agreeable and fertile country to Ramie', where I re- 
gained the road to Jerusalem. On the first day's jour- 
ney I met on the road the governor of that town, 
returning from a pilgrimage, with a company of fifty 
horsemen, and one hundred camels, mounted princi- 
pally by women and children, who had attended him to 
his place of devotion. I passed the night with them, 
and the morrow, on my return to Jerusalem, took up my 
lodgings with the Cordeliers, at the Church of Mount 
Sion, where I again met my five comrades. On my arri- 
val I went to bed, that my disorder might be properly 
treated ; but I was not cured, or in a state to depart, 
until the 19th of August. During my convalescence I 
recollected that I had frequently heard it said that it was 
impossible for a Christian to return overland from Jeru- 
salem to France. I dare not, even now, when I have 
performed this journey, assert that it is safe. I thought, 
nevertheless, that nothing was impossible for a man to 
undertake who has a constitution strong enough to sup- 
port fatigue, and has money and health. It is not, how- 
ever, through vain boasting that I say this ; but with the 
aid of God and his glorious Mother, who never fail to 
assist those who pray to them heartily, I resolved to 
attempt the journey. I kept my project secret for some 
time, without even hinting it to my companions. I was 
also desirous, before I undertook it, to perform other pil- 
grimages, especially those to Nazareth and Mount Tabor. 
I went, in consequence, to make Nanchardin, principal 
interpreter to the sultan, acquainted with my intentions, 
who supplied me with a sufficient interpreter for my jour- 

4 



50 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

ney. I thought of making my first pilgrimage to Mount 
Tabor, and everything was prepared for it ; but when I 
was on the point of setting out, the head of the convent 
where I lodged dissuaded me, and opposed my intentions 
most strongly. The interpreter, on his side, refused to go, 
saying that in the present circumstances I should not 
find any person to attend me ; for that the road lay 
through the territories of towns which were at war with 
each other, and that very lately a Venetian and his 
interpreter had been assassinated there. I confined 
myself, therefore, to the second pilgrimage, in which Sir 
Sanson de Lalaing and Humbert wished to accompany 
me. 

The principal monk at Jerusalem was so friendly as to 
accompany us as far as Jaffa, with a Cordelier friar of 
the Convent of Beaune. They there quitted us, and we 
engaged a bark from the Moors, which carried us to the 
port of Acre. This is a handsome port, deep and well 
inclosed. The town itself appears to have been large 
and strong, but at present there do not exist more than 
three hundred houses, situated at one of its extremities, 
and at some distance from the sea. 

With regard to our pilgrimage, we could not accom- 
plish it. Some Venetian merchants whom we consulted 
dissuaded us, and from that time we gave it up. They 
told us, at the same time, that a galley from Narbonne 
was expected at Baruth ; and my comrades being de- 
sirous to take that opportunity of returning to France, 
we consequently followed the road to that town. ... It 
is two days' journey from Baruth to Damascus. The 
Mohammedans have established a particular custom for 
Christians all through Syria, in not permitting them to 
enter the towns on horseback. None that are known to 



J 43 2 "33- GARDENS OF JAFFA. 5 1 

be such dare do it ; and in consequence, our moucre 
made Sir Sanson and myself dismount before we en- 
tered any town. Scarcely had we arrived in Damascus 
than about a dozen Saracens came round to look at us. 
I wore a broad beaver hat, which is unusual in that 
country ; and one of them gave me a blow with a staff, 
which knocked it off my head on the ground. I own that 
my first movement was to lift my fist at him, but the mou- 
cre, throwing himself between us, pushed me aside, and 
very fortunately for me he did so ; for in an instant we 
were surrounded by thirty or forty persons, and if I had 
given a blow I know not what would have become of us. 
I mention this circumstance to show that the inhabitants 
of Damascus are a wicked race, and consequently care 
should be taken to avoid any quarrels with them. It is 
the same in other Mohammedan countries. I know by 
experience that you must not joke with them, nor at the 
same time seem afraid ; nor appear poor, for then they will 
despise you ; nor rich, for they are very avaricious, as 
all who have disembarked at Jaffa know to their cost. 
Damascus may contain, as I have heard, one hundred 
thousand souls. The town is rich, commercial, and 
after Cairo the most considerable of all in the possession 
of the sultan. To the north, south, and east is an exten- 
sive plain ; to the west rises a mountain, at the foot of 
which the suburbs are built. A river runs through it, 
which is divided into several canals. The town only is 
inclosed by a handsome wall, for the suburbs are larger 
than the town. 

I have nowhere seen such extensive gardens, better 
fruits, nor greater plenty of water. This is said to be 
so abundant that there is scarcely a house without a 
fountain. The governor is only inferior to the sultan in 



52 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

all Syria and Egypt; but as at different times some 
governors have revolted, the sultans have taken precau- 
tions to restrain them within proper bounds. 

Damascus has a strong castle on the side toward the 
mountain, with wide and deep ditches, over which the 
sultan appoints a captain of his own friends, who never 
suffers the governor to enter it. It was, in 1400, de- 
stroyed and reduced to ashes by Tamerlane. Vestiges 
of this disaster now remain, and toward the gate of St. 
Paul there is a whole quarter that has never been 
rebuilt. There is a khan in the town appropriated as a 
deposit and place of safety to merchants and their 
goods. It is called Kahn Berkot, from its having 
originally been the residence of a person of that name. 
For my part, I believe that Berkot was a Frenchman, 
and what inclines me to this opinion is, that on a stone 
of the house are carved fleur-de-lis, which appear as 
ancient as the walls. Whatever may have been his 
origin, he was a very gallant man, and to this day enjoys 
a high reputation in that country. Never during his 
lifetime, and while he was in power, could the Persians 
or Tartars gain the smallest portion of land in Syria. 
The moment he learned that one of their armies was 
advancing he instantly marched to meet it, as far as the 
river, beyond Aleppo, that separates Syria from Persia. 
. . . The people of Damascus are persuaded that, had 
he lived, Tamerlane would never have carried his arms 
thither. Tamerlane, however, did honor to his memory, 
for when he took the town and ordered it to be set on 
fire, he commanded the house of Berkot to be spared, 
and appointed a guard to prevent its being hurt by the 
fire, so that it subsists to this day. The Christians are 
hated at Damascus. Every evening the merchants are 



1432-33- BARUTH. 53 

shut up in their houses by persons appointed for this 
purpose, who, on the morrow, come to open their gates 
when it may please them. 

I was shown the place without the walls of Damascus 
where St. Paul had a vision, was struck blind, and 
thrown from his horse. He caused himself to be con- 
ducted to Damascus, where he was baptized, but the 
place of his baptism is now a mosque. I saw also the 
stone from which St. George mounted his horse when 
he went to combat the dragon. It is two feet square, 
and they say, that when formerly the Saracens attempted 
to carry it away, in spite of all the strength they em- 
ployed, they could not succeed. 

Having seen Damascus, Sir Sanson and myself re- 
turned to Baruth, where we found Sir Andrew, Pierre 
de Vaudrei, Geoffroi de Toisi, and Jean de la Roe, who 
had come thither, as Jacques Cceur had told us. The 
galley arrived from Alexandria two or three days after- 
ward, and during this short interval we witnessed a 
feast celebrated by the Moors in their ancient manner. 
It began in the evening at sunset. Numerous com- 
panies, scattered here and there, were singing and utter- 
ing loud cries. While this was passing, the cannons of 
the castle were fired, and the people of the town 
launched into the air, very high and to a great distance, 
a kind of fire, larger than the largest lantern that I ever 
saw lighted. They told me they sometimes made use of 
such at sea to set fire to the sails of an enemy's vessel. 
It seems to me that as it is an easy thing to be made, 
and of little expense, it may be equally well employed 
to burn a camp or a thatched village, or in an engage- 
ment with cavalry to frighten the horses. Curious to 



54 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

know its composition, I sent the servant of my host 
to the person who made this fire, and requested him 
to teach me the method. He returned for answer that 
he dared not, for that he should run great danger were 
it known ; but, as there is nothing that a Moor will not 
do for money, I offered him a ducat, which quieted his 
fears ; and he taught me all he knew, and even gave me 
the moulds in wood, with the other ingredients, which I 
have brought to France. 

The evening before the embarkation, I took Sir An- 
drew de Toulongeon aside, and, having made him 
promise that he would not make any opposition to what 
I was about to reveal to him, I informed him of my 
design to return home overland. In consequence of his 
promise he did not attempt to hinder me, but represented 
all the dangers I should have to encounter, and the risk 
I should run of being forced to deny my faith in Jesus 
Christ. I must own that his representations were well 
founded, and of all the perils he had menaced me with 
there was not one I did not experience, except denying 
my religion. He engaged his companions to talk with 
me also on this subject, but what they urged was vain. 
I suffered them to set sail and remained at Baruth. . . . 
I was lodged at the house of a Venetian merchant, 
named Paul Barberico, and as I had not entirely re- 
nounced my two pilgrimages to Nazareth and Mount 
Tabor, in spite of the obstacles which it had been said 
I should meet with, I consulted him on this double 
journey. He procured for me a moucre, who undertook 
to conduct me, and bound himself before him to carry 
me safe and sound as far as Damascus, and to bring 
him back from thence a certificate of having performed 
his engagement, signed by me. This man made me 



H32-33- MOUNT TABOR. 55 

dress myself like a Saracen. The Franks, for their 
security in travelling, have obtained permission from 
the sultan to wear this dress when on a journey. I 
departed with my moucre from Baruth on the morrow 
after the galley had sailed, and we followed the road to 
Seyde that lies between the sea and the mountains. 
These frequently run so far into the sea that travellers 
are forced to go on the sands, and at other times they 
are three quarters of a league distant. After an hour's 
ride I came to a small wood of lofty pines, which the 
people of the country preserve with care. It is even 
forbidden to cut down any of them, but I am ignorant 
of the reason for such a regulation. Further on was a 
tolerably deep river, which my moucre said came from 
the valley of Noah, but the water was not good to drink. 
It had a stone bridge over it, and hard by was a kahn, 
where we passed the night. 

The mountain near Sur forms a crescent, the two 
horns advancing as far as the sea ; a league farther we 
came to a pass, which forced us to travel over a bank, 
on the summit of which is a tower. Travellers going to 
Acre have no other road than this, and the tower has 
been erected for their security. From this defile to 
Acre the mountains are low, and many habitations are 
visible, inhabited, for the greater part, by Arabs. Near 
the town I met a great lord of the country, called Fan- 
cardin ; he was encamped on the open plain, carrying 
his tents with him. . . . From Nazareth I went to 
Mount Tabor, the place where the transfiguration of 
our Lord and many other miracles took place. These 
pasturages attract the Arabs, who come thither with 
their beasts, and I was forced to engage four additional 



56 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

men as an escort, two of whom were Arabs. The ascent 
of the mountain is rugged, because there is no road : 
I performed it on the back of a mule, but it took me 
two hours. . . . To the east of Mount Tabor, and at 
the foot of it, we saw the Tiberiade, beyond which the 
Jordan flows. To the westward is an extensive plain, 
very agreeable from its gardens, filled with date-palm 
trees, and small tufts of trees planted like vines, on 
which grows the cotton. At sunrise these last have a 
singular effect, and, seeing their green leaves covered 
with cotton, the traveller would suppose it had snowed 
on them.- ■ 

I descended into this plain to dinner, for I had 
brought with me chickens and wine. My guides con- 
ducted me to the house of a man, who, when he saw 
my wine, took me for a person of consequence, and 
received me well. He brought me a porringer of milk, 
another of honey, and a branch loaded with dates. 
They were the first I had ever seen. 

I noticed also the manner of manufacturing cotton, 
in which men and women were employed. Here my 
guides wanted to extort more money from me, and 
insisted on making a fresh bargain to reconduct me to 
Nazareth. It was well I had not my sword with me, for 
I confess I should have drawn it, and it would have been 
madness in me and in all who shall imitate me. The 
result of the quarrel was, that I was obliged to give 
them twelve drachms of their money, equivalent to half 
a ducat. The moment they had received them, the 
whole four left me, so that I was obliged to return alone 
with my moucre. We had not proceeded far on our 
road when we saw two Arabs, armed in their manner, 
and mounted on beautiful horses, coming towards us. 



1432-33- AN ALARM. 57 

The moucre was much frightened; but, fortunately, they 
passed us without saying a word. He owned that, had 
they suspected I was a Christian, they would have killed 
us both without mercy, or, at the least, have stripped us 
naked. 

Each of them bore a long and thin pole, shod at the 
ends with iron ; one of them was pointed, the other 
round, but having many sharp blades a span long. 
Their buckler was round, according to their custom, 
convex at the centre, whence came a thick point of 
iron ; and from that point to the bottom it was orna- 
mented with a long silken fringe. They were dressed 
in robes, the sleeves of which, a foot and a half wide, 
hung clown their arms ; and instead of a cap they had a 
round hat, terminated in a point of rough crimson wool, 
which, instead of having the linen cloth twisted about 
it, like other Moors, fell down on each side of it, the 
whole of its breadth. 

I met, near Damascus, a very black Moor, who had 
ridden a camel from Cairo in eight clays, though it is 
usually sixteen days' journey. His camel had run away 
from him ; but with the aid of my moucre, we recovered 
it. These couriers have a singular saddle, on which 
they sit cross-legged ; but the rapidity of the camel is 
so great that, to prevent any bad effects from the air, 
they have their heads and bodies bandaged. This cou- 
rier was the bearer of an order from the sultan. A 
galley and two galliots of the prince of Tarentum had 
captured, before Tripoli in Syria, a vessel from the 
Moors ; and the sultan, by way of reprisal, had sent to 
arrest all the Catalonians and Genoese who might be 
found in Damascus and throughout Syria. 



58 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

This news which my moucre told me did not alarm 
me ; I entered the town boldly with other Saracens, 
because, dressed like them, I thought I had nothing to 
fear. This expedition had taken up seven days. On 
the morrow of my arrival I saw the caravan return 
from Mecca. It was said to be composed of three 
thousand camels ; and, in fact, it was two days and as 
many nights before they all entered the town. This 
event was, according to custom, a great festival. The 
governor of Damascus, attended by the principal per- 
sons of the town, went to meet the caravan, out of re- 
spect to the Alcoran, which it bore. This is the book 
of law which Mohammed left to his followers. It was 
enveloped in a silken covering, painted over with Moor- 
ish inscriptions ; and the camel that bore it was, in like 
manner, decorated all over with silk. Four musicians, 
and a great number of drums and trumpets, preceded 
the camel, and made a loud noise. In front and 
around were about thirty men, some bearing cross- 
bows, others drawn swords, others small harquebuses, 1 
which they fired off every now and then. Behind this 
camel followed eight old men, mounted on the swiftest 
camels, and near them were led their horses, magnifi- 
cently caparisoned, and ornamented with rich saddles, 
according to the custom of the country. After them 
came a Turkish lady, a relation of the grand seignior, 
in a litter borne by two camels with rich housings. 

The caravan was composed of Moors, Turks, Barba- 
resques, Tartars, Persians, and other sectaries of the 
false prophet, Mohammed. These people pretend that, 
having once made a pilgrimage to Mecca, they cannot 

1 This is an early mention of portable fire-arms in the East ; they were 
at this time novelties in Europe. 



1432-33- MECCA. 59 

be damned. Of this I was assured by a renegado slave, 
a Bulgarian by birth, who belonged to the lady I have 
mentioned. He was called Hayauldoula, which signi- 
fies, in the Turkish language, " Servant of God," and 
pretended to have been three times at Mecca. I formed 
an acquaintance with him, because he spoke a little 
Italian, and often kept me company in the night as 
well as in the day. In our conversations I frequently 
questioned him about Mohammed, and where his body 
was interred. He told me he was at Mecca ; that the 
shrine containing the body was in a circular chapel, 
open at the top, and that it was through this opening 
the pilgrims saw the shrine ; that among them were some 
who, having seen it, had their eyes thrust out, because, 
they said, after what they had just seen, the world 
could no longer offer them anything worth looking at. 
There were, in fact, in this caravan two persons, the 
one of sixteen and the other of twenty-two or twenty- 
three years old, who had thus made themselves blind. 

The distance from Mecca to Damascus is forty days' 
journey across the desert. The heat is excessive; and 
many of the caravan were suffocated. According to 
the renegade slave, the annual caravan to Medina should 
be composed of seven hundred thousand persons ; and 
when this number is incomplete, God sends his angels 
to make it up. As I was incessantly hearing Moham- 
med spoken of, I wished to know something about him ; 
and for this purpose, I addressed myself to a priest in 
Damascus, attached to the Venetian consul, who often 
said mass in his house, confessed the merchants of that 
nation, and, when necessary, regulated their affairs. 
Having confessed myself to him, and settled my worldly 



60 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

concerns, I asked him if he were acquainted with the 
doctrines of Mohammed. He said he was, and knew 
all the Alcoran. I then besought him, in the best 
manner I could, that he would put down in writing all 
he knew of him, that I might present it to my lord the 
Duke of Burgundy. He did so with pleasure ; and I 
have brought with me his work. 

In regard to the pilgrims that go to Mecca, the grand 
Turk has a custom peculiar to himself, — at least, I am 
ignorant if the other Mohammedan powers do the same, 
— which is, that when the caravan leaves his states he 
chooses for it a chief, whom they are bound to obey as 
implicitly as himself. The chief of this caravan was 
called Hoyarbarach ; he was a native of Bursa, and one 
of its principal inhabitants I caused myself to be pre- 
sented to him, by mine host and another person, as a 
man that wanted to go to that town to see a brother. 
They entreated him to receive me into his company, and 
to afford me his security. He asked if I understood 
Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, the vulgar tongue, or Greek. 
When they replied that I did not, he answered, "Well, 
what can he pretend to do ? " However, representations 
were made to him that, on account of the war, I dared 
not go thither by sea ; and that, if he would condescend 
to admit me, I would do as well as I could. He then 
consented ; and, having placed his two hands on his 
head and touched his beard, he told me, in the Turkish 
language, that I might join his slaves, but he insisted 
that I should be dressed just like them. 

I went, after this interview, with one of my friends, to 
the market, called the Bazaar, and bought two long 
white robes that reached to my ankles, a complete tur- 



i43 2 -33- 



DAMASCUS BLADES. 6 1 



ban, a linen girdle, a fustian pair of drawers to tuck the 
ends of my robe in ; two small bags, the one for my own 
use, the other to hang on my horse's head while feeding 
him with barley and straw; a leathern spoon, and salt; 
a carpet to sleep on ; and, lastly, a paletot of a white 
skin, which I lined with a linen cloth, and which was of 
service to me in the nights. I purchased also a white 
tarquais (a sort of quiver) complete, to which hung a 
sword and knives ; but as to the tarquais and sword, I 
could only buy them privately ; for if those who have 
the administration of justice had known of it, the seller 
and myself would have run great risks. The Damascus 
blades are the handsomest and best of all Syria, and it 
is curious to observe their manner of burnishing them. 
This operation is performed before tempering, and they 
have, for this purpose, a small piece of wood, in which 
is fixed an iron, which they rub up and down the blade, 
and thus clear off all inequalities, as a plane does to 
wood. They then temper and polish it. This polish is 
so highly finished, that, when any one wants to arrange 
his turban, he uses his sword for a looking-glass. As to 
its temper, it is perfect ; and I have nowhere seen 
swords that cut so excellently. There are made at 
Damascus, and in the adjoining country, mirrors of steel 
that magnify objects like burning glasses. I have seen 
some that, when exposed to the sun, have reflected the 
heat so strongly as to set fire to a plank fifteen or six- 
teen feet distant. 

I bought a small horse that turned out very well. 
Before my departure I had him shod at Damascus, and 
thence, as far as Bursa, which is near fifty days' journey, 
so well do they shoe their horses, that I had nothing to 
do with his feet, excepting on* of the fore ones, which 



62 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

was pricked by a nail, and made him lame for three 
weeks. 

. The men of fortune carry with them, when they ride, 
a small drum, which they use in battle, or in skirmishes, 
to rally their men. It is fastened to the pommel of their 
saddles, and they beat on it with a piece of flat leather. 
I also purchased one, with spurs and vermilion-colored 
boots, which came up to my knees, according to the 
custom of the country. As a mark of my gratitude to 
Hoyarbarach I went to offer him a pot of green ginger, 
but he refused it, and it was by dint of prayers and en- 
treaties that I prevailed on him to accept it. I had no 
other pledge for my security than what I have mentioned, 
but I found him full of frankness and good-will — more, 
perhaps, than I should have found in many Christians. 
God, who had protected me in the accomplishment of 
this journey, brought me acquainted with a Jew of 
Caiffa, who spoke the Tartar and Italian languages, and 
I requested him to assist me in putting down in writing 
the names of everything I might have occasion to want 
for myself and my horse while on the road. On our 
arrival, the first day's journey, at Bailee I drew out my 
paper to know how to ask for barley and chopped straw, 
which I wanted to give my horse. Ten or twelve Turks 
near me, observing my action, burst into laughter, and 
coming nearer to examine my paper seemed as much 
surprised at our writing as we are with theirs. They 
took a liking to me, and made every effort to teach me 
to speak Turkish. They were never weary of making 
me often repeat the same thing, and pronounced it so 
many different ways that I could not fail to retain it ; so, 
when we separated, I knew how to call for everything 



1432-33- IMAGE OF THE VIRGIN. £>$ 

necessary for myself and horse. During the stay of the 
caravan at Damascus, I made a pilgrimage, about sixteen 
miles distant, to our Lady of Serdenay. To arrive there 
we traversed a mountain a full quarter of a mile in 
length, to which the gardens of Damascus extend. We 
then descended into a delightful valley, full of vineyards 
and gardens, with a handsome fountain of excellent 
water. Here, on a rock, has been erected a small castle, 
with a church of green monks, having a portrait of the 
Virgin painted on wood, whose head has been carried 
thither miraculously, but in what manner I am ignorant. 
It is added that it always sweats and that this sweat is 
an oil. All I can say is, that when I went thither I was 
shown at the end of the church, behind the great altar, 
a niche formed in the wall, where I saw the image, which 
was a hat thing, and might be about one foot and a half 
high by one foot wide. I cannot say whether it is of 
wood or stone, for it was entirely covered with clothes. 
The front was closed with an iron trellis, and under- 
neath was the vase containing the oil. A woman ac- 
costed me, and with a silver spoon moved aside the 
clothes, and wanted to anoint me with the sign of the 
cross on the forehead, the temples, and breast. I believe 
this was a mere trick to get money, nevertheless I do 
not mean to say that Our Lady may not have more 
power than this image. 

I returned to Damascus, and, on the evening of the 
departure of the caravan, settled my affairs and my 
conscience as if I had been at the point of death ; for 
suddenly I found myself in great trouble. I have before 
mentioned the messenger whom the sultan had sent with 
orders to arrest all the Genoese and Catalonian mer- 



64 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

chants found within his dominions. By virtue of this 
order my host, who was a Genoese, was arrested, his 
effects seized, and a Moor placed in his house to take 
care of him. I endeavored to save all I could for him ; 
and that the Moor might not notice it, I made him 
drunk. I was arrested in my turn, and carried before 
one of their cadies, who are considered as somewhat 
like our bishops, and have the office of administering 
justice. This cadi turned me over to another cadi, who 
sent me to prison with the merchants, although he knew 
I was not one ; but this disagreeable affair had been 
brought on me by an interpreter, who wanted to extort 
money from me, as he had before attempted on my first 
journey hither. Had it not been for Antoine Mour- 
rourzin, the Venetian consul, I must have paid a sum 
of money ; but I remained in prison ; and, in the mean 
time, the caravan set off. The consul, to obtain my 
liberty, was forced to make intercession, conjointly with 
the governor of Damascus, alleging that I had been 
arrested without cause, which the interpreter well knew. 

The governor sent for a Genoese, named Gentil Im- 
perial, a merchant employed by the sultan to purchase 
slaves for him at Caiffa. He asked me who I was, and 
my business at Damascus. On my replying that I was 
a Frenchman returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 
he said they had done wrong to detain me, and that I 
might depart when I pleased. 

I accordingly set off, accompanied by a moucre, whom 
I had first charged to carry my Turkish dress out of the 
town, because a Christian is not permitted to wear a 
white turban there. At a short distance a mountain 
rises, on which I was shown a house said to have been 
that of Cain ! During the first day we travelled over 



1432-33- TURKISH HABIT OF TRA VEL. 65 

mountains, but the road was good. On the second day 
we entered a fine country, which continued cheerful 
until we came to Balbeck. My moucre there quitted me, 
as I had overtaken the caravan. It was encamped near 
a river, on account of the. great heat of these parts \ the 
nights are nevertheless very cold, which will scarcely 
be believed, and the dews exceedingly heavy. I waited 
on Hoyarbarach, who confirmed the permission he had 
granted me to accompany him, and recommended me 
not to quit the caravan. 

On the morrow morning, at eleven o'clock, I gave my 
horse water, with oats and straw, according to the cus- 
tom of our countries. This time the Turks said nothing 
to me ; but at six o'clock in the evening, when, having 
given him water, I was about fastening the bag, that he 
might eat, they opposed it and took off the bag; for 
they will not suffer their horses to eat but during the 
night, and will not allow one to begin eating before the 
rest, unless when they are at grass. The captain of 
the caravan had with him a mameluke of the sultan, who 
was a Circassian, and going to Caramania in search of 
a brother. This man, seeing me alone and ignorant of 
the language of the country, charitably wished to serve 
me as a companion, and took me with him ; but, as he 
had no tent, we were often obliged to pass the nights 
under trees in gardens. It was then that I was obliged 
to learn to sleep on the ground, to drink nothing but 
water, and to sit cross-legged. This posture was at 
first painful, but it was still more so to accustom myself 
to sit on my horse with such very short stirrups, and 
I suffered so much that, when I had dismounted, I could 
not remount without assistance ; but after a little time 
this manner seemed even more convenient than ours. 

5 



66 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

That same evening I supped with the mameluke ; but 
we had only bread, cheese, and milk. I had, when eat- 
ing, a table-cloth, like the rich men of the country. 
These cloths are four feet in diameter, and round, hav- 
ing strings attached to them, so that they may be drawn 
up like a purse. When they are used they are spread 
out ; and when the meal is over, they are drawn up 
with all that remains within them, without their losing a 
crumb of bread or a raisin. But I observed that, 
whether their repast had been good or bad, they never 
failed to return thanks aloud to God. 

Balbeck is a good town, well inclosed with walls, and 
tolerably commercial. In the centre is a castle, built 
with very large stones. At present it contains a mosque, 
in which, it is said, there is a human skull with eyes so 
enormous that a man may pass his head through their 
openings. I cannot affirm this for fact, as none but 
Saracens may enter the mosque. ... As my com- 
panion, the mameluke, and myself had no tent, we fixed 
our quarters in a garden. There we were joined by two 
Turcomans of Satalia, returning from Mecca, who 
supped with us. These men, seeing me well clothed 
and well mounted, having a handsome sword and well- 
furnished tarquais, proposed to the mameluke, as he 
afterwards owned when we separated, to make away 
with me, considering that I was but a Christian and 
unworthy of being in their company. He answered that, 
since I had eaten bread and salt with them, it would be 
a great crime ; that it was forbidden by law ; and that, 
after all, God had created the Christians as well as the 
Saracens. They, however, persisted in their design ; 
and as I testified a desire of seeing Aleppo, the most 
considerable town in Syria after Damascus, they pressed 



1432-33- BERTRANDON IN PALESTINE. 67 

me to join them. I was ignorant of their intention, and 
accepted their offer j but I am now convinced they only 
wanted to cut my throat. The mameluke forbade them 
to come any more near us, and by this means saved my 
life. 

We set out from Balbeck two hours before day, and 
our caravan consisted of from four to five hundred per- 
sons, with six or seven hundred camels and mules ; for 
it had great quantities of spicery. I will describe the 
order of its march. The caravan has a very large 
drum ; and the moment the chief orders the departure, 
three loud strokes are beaten. Every one then makes 
himself ready, and when prepared, joins the file without 
uttering a word. Ten of our people would, in such 
cases, make more noise than a thousand of theirs. 

Thus they march in silence, unless it be at night, or 
that any one should sing a song celebrating the heroic 
deeds of their ancestors. At the break of day, two or 
three, placed at a great distance from each other, cry 
out and answer one another, as is done from the towers 
of the mosques at the usual hours. In short, a little 
before and after sunrise, devout people make their cus- 
tomary prayers and oblations. To perform these obla- 
tions, if they be near a rivulet, they dismount, and with 
feet naked, they wash their whole bodies. Should there 
be no rivulet near, at the usual time for these ceremo- 
nies, they pass their hands over their bodies. The last 
among them washes, and then turns to the south, when 
all raise two fingers in the air, prostrate themselves, and 
kiss the ground thrice ; they then rise up and say their 
prayers. Persons of rank, to avoid failing in their 
performance, always carry, when they travel, leathern 
bottles full of water, which are suspended under the 



68 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1432-33. 

bellies of camels or horses, and are generally very 
handsome. 

The Turks bear well fatigue and a hard life ; they are 
not incommoded, as I have witnessed, during the whole 
journey, by sleeping on the ground like animals. They 
are of a gay, cheerful humor, and willingly sing songs 
of the heroic deeds of their ancestors. Any one, there- 
fore, who wishes to live with them must not be grave or 
melancholy, but always have a smiling countenance. 
They are also men of probity, and charitable toward 
each other. I have often observed, that should a poor 
person pass by when they are eating, they would invite 
him to partake of their meal, which is a thing we never 
do. 



IV. 

GEOFFREY OF VINSAUF. 

THE children were talking, at their next meeting, of 
the curious question, what makes one book inter- 
esting while another is dull. 

"You can almost tell," said Hester, "when you open 
a book, whether it will be entertaining. It seems as if 
there were something in the look of the page." 

Uncle Fritz set them to guessing what were the easiest 
books for foreigners to read, in learning English. He 
told them that " The Vicar of Wakefield " is one of the 
books given to all beginners. This is because the Eng- 
lish style is so simple. 

" What makes books interesting to young people," he 
said, " and, for that matter, to old people, is human 
incident; and the more life-like this incident, — nay, the 
more detail in it, within certain limits, of human affairs, 
— the more will it interest the average reader." 

Blanche said that she was on the top of Mt. Wash- 
ington once, when Mr. Alger happened to be there. 
When he saw how she pointed out every chimney-smoke 
and every shed or barn, which relieved the wide spread 
of uninhabited forest, he told her it was the "human 
pathos" which gave interest to the scene. 

That is an admirable observation, and the expression 
is worth remembering. 



70 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1880. 

"Do you remember," said Uncle Fritz, "how much 
interest you took in Plutarch's Lives ? That is be- 
cause they are all crowded with personal anecdotes of 
the men he describes. In these bits of real life we see 
the men. It is as you look on a street at night, when 
there is a flash of lightning. You see the comers and 
goers for that instant, and, when another flash comes, 
you see them again. For the moment you see them 
well. 

" Now our modern school of biography is very apt to 
drag us through the book, and yet not let us see the man 
once plainly. 'Whether Mr. Smith were descended from 
Reginald Smythe, who crossed with the Conqueror, or 
from Thomas the smith, who held the forge at the manor 
of Shoebury, is not well known. The family first ap- 
pears on the American registers in the person of John 
Smith, who, with his wife Mary, crossed in the Cat, Jones, 
master, in 1629/ and so on, and so on. 

" Ah me ! I have read miles of such biographies. 

" It is just so with histories and books of travel," con- 
tinued Uncle Fritz. " If the man will tell you something 
about some real people, you will read. But if he says, 
' The army this day advanced through an open country,' 
or ' The fleet this day lay by, waiting for orders/ you skip, 
if you dare, because ' army ' and ' fleet ' do not interest 
you as Richard and Saladin do." 

Alice said she supposed this was the reason why 
novels are pleasanter reading than the dull histories. 

Uncle Fritz smiled his approval, because he saw that 
the girl had listened intelligently so far ; and Alice said 
that they had been reading Scott's novel of " The Talis- 
man " aloud, as they met to make baby-clothing in their 
" Lend-a-Hand Club." They had just come to the loss 



i88o. INTERESTING BOOKS. Jl 

of the banner, and they wanted terribly to look forward 
and see what happened to the brave Scot. 

" While you are waiting," said Uncle Fritz, " suppose 
we take down the true story of the Siege of Acre." So 
he sent Fanchon for the book, which proved to be the 
next volume of Bonn's Antiquarian Library to that 
which had the travels of Sir John Mandeville. 

Uncle Fritz gave it to Alice to read about the Siege 
of Acre. But, as she looked for that, she came to some 
earlier passages first, describing the start for the Third 
Crusade ; and once and again the children recognized 
scraps which Sir Walter Scott had used. 

The book is by Geoffrey of Vinsauf. It is called the 
Itinerary of Richard I. As you will see, it has no lack 
of personal anecdote, or "human pathos." 

Saladin had got possession of nearly all the kingdom, 
and everything succeeded to his wishes. Elated with 
his proud triumphs, he talked in magnificent terms of 
the law of Mahomet, and pointed to the result of his 
enterprise as a proof that it was superior to the law of 
Christ. These insolent vaunts he often threw out in the 
presence of the Christians, one of whom, well known to 
him for his loquacity, on a certain occasion, inspired by 
the Almighty, turned him into ridicule by the following 
reply : " God, who is the Father of the faithful, judging 
the Christians worthy of reproof for their crimes, has 
chosen thee, O prince, as his agent in this matter. 
Thus, sometimes, a worldly father in anger seizes a dirty 
stick out of the mire, wherewith when he has chastised 
his erring sons he throws it back among the filth where 
he found it." 

Whilst these things were done in Palestine the Arch- 



72 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

bishop of Tyre had embarked on shipboard, and already- 
reported to Christendom the news of this great calamity, 1 
and the affliction of so small a kingdom was felt as a 
calamity over many countries. Fame had carried to the 
ears of all the kings and of all the faithful, that the 
inheritance of Christ was occupied by the heathen. 
Some were affected to tears by the news, and some were 
stimulated to vengeance. First of all, Richard, the brave 
Earl of Poitou, assumed the cross to avenge its wrongs, 
and took the lead of all, inviting others by his example. 
His father Henry, King of England, was now declining 
in years ; yet the young man was not deterred by either 
his father's advanced age, or his own right to the throne, 
or the difficulties of so long a voyage ; no arguments 
could deter him from his purpose. The Almighty, to 
reward the valor of this brave man, whom he had chosen 
to be the first inciter of the others, reserved him, after 
the other princes were dead or returned to their own 
country, to achieve his great work. 

Some time after, Philip, King of France, and Henry, 
King of England, took the cross at Gisors, followed by 
the nobles of both kingdoms, with numbers of the 
clergy and laity, — all with equal aspirations, bent upon 
the same design. So great was the ardor of this new 
pilgrimage, that it was no longer a question of who 
would take the cross, but who had not yet taken it. 
Several persons sent a present of a distaff and wool to 
one another, as a significant hint that whosoever de- 
clined the campaign would degrade himself as much as 
if he did the duties of a woman : wives urged their hus- 
bands, mothers their sons, to devote themselves to this 

1 The news of Saladin's victories in Tyre, Antioch, Acre, etc. 




KING HENRY II. OF ENGLAND 



1 189. EVERYBODY TAKES THE CROSS. 73 

noble contest; and they only regretted that the weakness 
of their sex prevented themselves from going also. The 
renown of this expedition spread so extraordinarily, 
that many migrated from the cloister to the camp, and, 
exchanging the cowl for the cuirass, showed themselves 
truly Christ's soldiers, in quitting their libraries for the 
study of arms. The prelates of the churches publicly 
preached to one another the virtue of abstinence, ad- 
monishing all men that, laying aside all extravagance 
in dress, they should refrain from their accustomed 
luxuries. 

It was agreed also, both among nobles and bishops, 
by common consent, that to maintain the pilgrims that 
were poor, those who remained at home should pay 
tithes of their property ; but the flagitious cupidity of 
many took advantage of this to lay heavy and undue 
exactions upon their subjects. ... In process of time, 
Frederic, the Roman emperor, assumed the insignia of 
the holy pilgrimage, and displayed, both outwardly in 
his dress, and inwardly in his heart, the form of a true 
pilgrim. So great a king, whose empire was bounded 
on the north by the Northern Ocean, on the south by 
the Mediterranean Sea, whose glory was augmented by 
continual victories, whose fortune had experienced no 
check, resigns every pleasure and blandishment of the 
world, and humbly girds on his sword to fight for 
Christ. His bravery, especially in his declining years, 
is no less to be wondered at than praised ; for though 
he was an old man and had sons, whose age and valor 
seemed better fitted to military service, yet esteeming 
them insufficient, he took upon himself the charge of de- 
fending Christianity; but when his sons urged him to 
let them discharge the task which he had undertaken, 



74 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1190. 

either in his stead or in his company, he left liis eldest 
son to govern his empire, and the younger, whom he 
had created Duke of Suabia, he took with him on the 
expedition ; and because the imperial majesty never 
assails any one without sending a defiance, but always 
gives notice of war to his enemies, a herald is dis- 
patched from the emperor to Saladin, calling upon him 
to give full satisfaction to Christendom, which he has 
injured, or failing to do so, to prepare himself for war. 

The princes of all the empire followed him, and when 
they were met at Mayence, according to the imperial 
edict, all of them joined with one acclaim in taking the 
vow of so noble a pilgrimage. . . . 

Thus, then, led by the Holy Spirit, they flocked to- 
gether on every side ; and whoever could have seen so 
many nations and princes under one commander must 
have believed that the ancient glory of Rome was not 
yet departed. 

In this army of Christ were pontiffs, dukes, earls, 
marquises, and other nobles without number ; for if we 
were to recapitulate their names and territories, the 
writer would become tedious, his reader be disgusted, 
and his plan of brevity be overthrown. It was deter- 
mined by a prudent council that no one should go on 
this expedition whose means could not provide him 
with supplies for one year. A large number of car- 
riages were constructed for the use of the pilgrims who 
should be sick, that they might neither give trouble to 
the sound, nor be left behind and perish. It had long 
been a question whether the mass of the army should 
proceed by sea or land. But it seemed that any num- 
ber of ships, however large, would be insufficient to 



H90. BATTLE WITH THE TURKS. 75 

transport so great a multitude. The emperor, therefore, 
urging on the task which he had undertaken, deter- 
mined to march through Hungary j and so, though he 
was the last sovereign who took the vow of pilgrimage, 
he was the first to carry it into effect. . . . Our army, 
having entered the territories of the Turks, experienced 
no hostility during several days. The sultan wished by 
his forbearance to allure them into the heart of his 
dominions, until want of food and the asperities of the 
road should give him more ready means of annoying 
them. That nefarious traitor had seized the rugged 
mountain-tops, the thickets of the woods, and the im- 
passable rivers ; and whilst he professed to observe the 
treaty which he had made, he opposed arrows and 
stones to our passage. This was the market and the 
safe-conduct which he had promised us. Such is the 
faith that must be placed in the unbelievers ; they 
always esteem valor and treachery as equally praise- 
worthy towards an enemy. 

Moreover, they avoid, above all things, coming to 
close quarters and fighting hand to hand ; but they 
shower their arrows from a distance ; and with them it 
is no less glory to flee, than to put their enemies to 
flight. They attack both extremities of the army, at one 
time the rear, at another time the van ; that, if by any 
chance they can be separated, they may attack either 
the one or the other by itself. Night brought with it 
neither sleep nor rest ; for a terrific clamor disturbed 
the army on every side. A shower of javelins pierced 
through their tents; numbers of them were slain asleep, 
and the enemy hung on them so incessantly that for 
six weeks they ate their meals under arms and slept 
under arms, without taking off their coats of mail. At 



76 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1190. 

the same time they were assailed by such violent hunger 
and thirst, that when they lost their horses by the 
chances of war, it was to them a consolation and source 
of delight to feed on horse-flesh and drink the blood ; 
in this manner, by the ingenuity which necessity teaches, 
they found out an additional use for the animals on 
which they rode. 

There was a place between high rocks which was 
rendered so difficult to pass by reason of the steep 
ascent and the narrowness of the paths that when the 
first division of the army, led by the emperor's son, had 
passed through, the Turks suddenly rushed from their 
ambush on the last division, and in their confidence of 
victory, attacked them with lance and sword. The 
alarming news was carried to the duke, who returned 
with headlong haste upon his march, eagerly retracing 
all the difficulties which he had a little before rejoiced 
at having surmounted. His rage heeded not danger; 
his cavalry were made to gallop where, before, they 
could not even walk. In this manner, whilst he was 
anxiously and incautiously seeking for his father on 
every side, and incessantly shouting his father's name, 
his helmet was struck off by a stone, and his teeth 
knocked out, yet still he remained immovable and 
unshaken. ... At last, after many severe attacks, the 
army arrives at Iconium, where that wicked traitor had 
shut himself within the walls of the city. Our soldiers 
pitched their tents at no great distance, uncertain what 
new disasters the morrow might bring with it. 

It was now about the end of Whitsuntide, and that 
same night so violent and sudden a storm burst upon 
them that its fury was felt even within the camp. In 
the morning, when the clouds were dispersed, the sky 



ugo. COURAGE OF FREDERIC. J J 

became clear, and behold ! the Turkish army appear 
around on every side, with trumpets, drums, and horrid 
clang, ready to attack. They had never before been 
seen in such multitudes, nor could they have been con- 
ceived to have been so numerous. All this multitude 
had been roused to arms by the sultan's son, Melkin, 
who wished to anticipate his father-in-law Saladin's 
victory, and, trusting in the number and valor of his 
men, was confident of success. Meanwhile the sultan 
had ascended a lofty tower, where he sat in expectation, 
eying the country beneath him, and the armies that 
were ready to engage : and hoping in a short time to 
see accomplished what his sanguine mind had promised. 
The emperor, seeing some of his men alarmed at the 
unusual multitude of the enemy, displayed the con- 
fidence of a noble chieftain, and raising his hands to 
heaven, gave thanks to God, in the sight of all, that 
the inevitable necessity was at length arrived for that 
combat which had so long been deferred by the flight 
of the enemy. 

At these words all were inspired with fresh ardor as 
they looked on the emperor's placid countenance, and 
one old man, weak though he was, supplied an incentive 
of valor to many who were young and strong. What 
God is so great as our God ? All that multitude, who 
were so sure of victory that they brought chains with 
them rather than swords, were overthrown in a moment, 
and at once the city was taken and occupied, and the 
enemy without vanquished ; everywhere were blood and 
death and heaps of slain ; their number impedes their 
flight, and they fall by those very means on which they 
had counted for triumph. The battle is now fought 
hand to hand ; the bows are snapped asunder ; the 



yS STORIES OF ADVENTURE. ug . 

arrows no longer fly, and they have scarcely room to 
wield their swords. Thus everything is thrown into con- 
fusion by the multitude, and what our enemies intended 
for our ruin turns out to our greater glory ; the flying 
war, which had been waged among brambles and the 
gorges of rocks, is now carried on in a fair and open 
field ; the Christians satiate their fury, which had so 
often been put forth in vain. The Turks experience, 
against their will, how well their enemies can fight hand 
to hand whom they had so often provoked at a distance. 
This splendid victory was not granted unworthily by the 
Divine excellence to His faithful servants • for they 
observed chastity in the camp and discipline when 
under arms ; in all, and above all, was the fear of the 
Lord ; with all was the love of their neighbor ; all were 
united in brotherly affection as they were also com- 
panions in danger. . . . 

The victorious army now enters the Armenian terri- 
tories ; all rejoice at having quitted a hostile kingdom, 
and at their arrival in the country of the faithful. But, 
alas ! a more fatal land awaits them, which is to ex- 
tinguish the light and joy of all. On the borders of 
Armenia there was a place, surrounded on one side by 
steep mountains, on the other side by the river Selesius. 
Whilst the sumpter-horses and baggage were passing 
this river the victorious emperor halted. He was indeed 
an illustrious man, of stature moderately tall, with red 
hair and beard ; his hair was partly turning gray, his 
eyelids were prominent and his eyes sparkling ; his 
cheeks short and wide ; his breast and shoulders broad ; 
in all other respects his form was manly. There was in 
him, as is read of Socrates, something distinguished and 
awful ; for his look denoted the firmness of his mind, 



uSS. SAD FATE OF THE EMPEROR. 79 

being always immovably the same, neither clouded by 
grief, nor contracted by anger, nor relaxed by joy. 

He so much reverenced the native language of Ger- 
many that although he was not ignorant of other 
languages yet he always conversed with ambassadors 
from foreign countries by means of an interpreter. 

This great man having halted some time, in conse- 
quence of the sumpter-horses crossing the river, became 
at last impatient of delay, and wishing to accelerate the 
march he prepares to cross the nearest part of the 
stream, so as to get in front of the sumpter-horses 
and be at liberty to proceed. 1 O sea ! O earth ! O 
heaven ! The ruler of the Roman empire, ever august, 
in whom the glory of ancient Rome again flourished, 
its honor again lived, and its power was augmented, 
was overwhelmed in the waters and perished. If the 
mountains of Gilboa, where the brave ones of Israel 
were slain, deserved to be deprived of the dew and rain, 
what imprecations may we not deservedly utter upon 
this fatal river, which overthrew a main pillar of Chris- 
tendom ? There were some who said that the place had 
been marked by a fatality from ancient times, and that 
the nearest rock had long borne upon it these words 
inscribed, " Here the greatest of men shall perish." 
The lamentable report of his death was spread around, 
and filled all with dismay. If we search all the tradi- 
tions of history and the fictions of romance, concerning 
the sorrows of mothers, the sighs of brides, or the dis- 
ses of men in general, the present grief will be found 
to be without example, never before known in any age, 
and surpassing all tears and lamentations. There were 

1 This was the river of Kalycadnus in Seleucia. The estimate given of 
Frederic I. by Geoffrey is confirmed by other history. 



So STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1188. 

many of the emperor's domestics present, with some of 
his kinsmen and his son, but it was impossible to dis- 
tinguish them amid the general lamentation, with which 
all and each lamented the loss of their father and their 
lord. This, however, was a consolation to all, and they 
all returned thanks for it to Divine Providence, that he 
had not died within the territories of the infidels. 

In the mean time Christ's soldiers, who had been con- 
veyed by sea to the succor of the Holy Land, were 
laying siege to Acre. That the order of the siege may 
be better understood, we will relate it from the begin- 
ning. Guy, King of Jerusalem, after he had been a 
year in captivity at Damascus, was released by Saladin, 
on the strict promise that he should abjure his kingdom, 
and, as soon as possible, go into exile beyond the sea. 
The clergy of the kingdom determine to release the 
king from the bond of his oath ; both because what is 
done under compulsion deserves to be annulled, and 
because the bands of the faithful who were on their 
way would find in him a head and a leader. It was 
right, indeed, that art should overreach, and that the 
treachery of the tyrant should be deceived by its own 
example. . . . But God so ordered it that the counsel 
of Belial was brought to nought ; for the tyrant was 
baffled in his hopes of retaining the kingdom, and the 
king was released by the sentence of the clergy from the 
enormity of his promise. . . . Thus, then, when num- 
bers had flocked together to meet the king at Tripoli, 
the minds of all were inspired with bravery, so that they 
not only strove to keep what they had retained, but also 
to recover what they had lost. 



iiSS. SIEGE OF ACRE. Si 

After a while the king assembled his army and pro- 
ceeded to Tyre ; but, demanding admittance, was refused 
by the marquis, though the city had been committed to 
his custody on the condition that it should be restored 
to the king and the heirs of the kingdom. Not content 
with this injury he adds insult to the breach of faith, for 
whenever the king's messenger, or any of the pilgrims, 
endeavored to enter the town, they were treated harshly* 
and were in his sight no better than Gentiles and pub- 
licans. But the Pisans, who possessed no small part of 
the city, would not be induced to consent to his perfidy, 
but with commendable rebellion stood up for the king's 
rights. The marquis directed not only insults but civil 
war against them, and they, prudently withdrawing for a 
time, retired with others from the city to the army. The 
troops had pitched their camp in an open plain, but 
none of them were allowed to enter the city, even to 
buy provisions, and they all found an enemy where they 
had hoped to find an ally. Whilst these events were 
going on the marquis was afflicted by a complaint to 
which he had long been subject ; but, as it chanced to 
assail him this time with greater violence than usual, he 
conjectured that he had taken poison. Upon this he 
issued a harsh edict against physicians who make 
potions ; innocent men were put to death on false sus- 
picions, and those whose province it was to heal others 
now found the practice of their art lead to their own 
destruction. The king was urged by many to attack the 
city, but he prudently dissembled his own wrong, and 
hastily marched with all the army he could collect to 
besiege the town of Acre. 

There were seven hundred knights, and others more 
numerous still, collected out of all Christendom ; but if 

6 



82 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

we were to estimate the whole army, its strength did not 
amount altogether to nine thousand men. At the end 
of August, on St. Augustin's day, two years after the 
city had been taken, they bravely commenced that long 
and difficult siege, which was protracted during two 
years longer before the city surrendered. The Turks, 
from the battlements of the walls, beheld the army ap- 
proach, but without knowing who they were, or for what 
they came. When they learnt the truth they feared not 
their approach, and treated their intentions with de- 
rision. The men of Pisa, who chose to proceed by sea, 
as shorter and easier, approached Acre in due order in 
their ships and bravely occupied the shore ; where they 
had no sooner secured a station than they formed the 
siege on the side towards the sea with equal courage 
and perseverance. The king, with the rest of his army, 
fixed his tents on a neighboring hill, commonly called 
Mount Turon, from which, by the eminence of the 
ground, he overlooked the approach both by sea and 
land. This hill was higher on the eastern side of the 
city ; and, as it allowed the eye to rove freely round, it 
gave a prospect over the plain on all sides, far and wide. 
On the third day after their arrival the Christians made 
an assault upon the town ; and deeming it tedious to 
await the effect of engines for throwing stones, together 
with other machines, they trusted to the defence of their 
shields alone, and carried scaling-ladders to mount the 
walls. That day would have put a happy termination 
to the toil of so many days, if the malice of the ancient 
enemy and the arrival of false information had not frus- 
trated their achievement when it was almost completed, 
for it was reported that Saladin was at hand, and our 
men returned with speed to the camp, but when they 



1 189. ASSAULT ON THE TOWN. 83 

perceived that it was only a small body that had come 
in advance they expressed indignation rather than com- 
plaint that the victory had been snatched from them. 
They were, indeed, few that had come, but fear had 
reported that an innumerable multitude was at hand ; 
for it is not unusual that things should be magnified 
through terror. 

The sultan, at this time, was besieging the castle of 
Belfort, and when he heard what was going on he 
marched in haste with a large army to Acre. Our men, 
unequal to cope with him, kept themselves within the 
limits before described. The Turks assailed them per- 
severingly, both morning and evening, trying every 
means to penetrate to the hill-top ; and thus those who 
came to besiege others were now besieged themselves. 
In this position, then, were our men when the Morning 
Star visited them from on high; for, behold ! fifty ships, 
such as are commonly called coggs, having twelve thou- 
sand armed men on board, are seen approaching, — a 
grateful sight to our men on account of the strait which 
they were in. Grateful is that which comes when prayed 
for, more grateful still is that which comes contrary to 
our hope, but grateful beyond all is that which comes to 
aid us in the last necessity ; yet ofttimes we suspend 
our belief concerning a thing we so much long for, and 
cannot credit what we so much desire. Our army, from 
the top of the hill, see the reinforcements coming, and 
dare not hope for an event so joyful, and the new 
comers, also, look upon the camp as an object of sus- 
picion. When, however, they came nearer and saw the 
ensigns of the Christian faith, a shout is raised on both 
sides ; their joyful feelings find vent in tears ; they 
eagerly flock together and leap into the waves to go 



84 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

and meet them. O happy fleet, which, sailing from the 
Northern Ocean, and encountering a voyage never 
before tried, passed over so many seas, so many coasts, 
so many dangers, and came from Europe, along the 
shores of Africa, to succor Asia in her distress ! The 
crews of these ships were Danes and Frisons, men 
inured to labor by the rigors of the north, and having 
three qualities good in war, — large limbs, invincible 
minds, and devout fervor for the faith. ... To Acre, 
then, they came ; and, having pitched their camp be- 
tween the city and Mount Turon, they turned their 
invincible prowess to the destruction of the enemy, 
whom they assailed, not by frequent skirmishes, but by 
one continued conflict; for their prodigal valor and 
reckless fury exposed them to so many dangers that 
afterwards, when the city was taken, hardly a hundred 
men remained alive out of the twelve thousand. 

At a season of calm, when Easter was close at hand, 
the marquis at our request returned from Tyre, with a 
large equipment and supplies of men, arms, and pro- 
visions. For by the provident care of the chiefs, the 
king and marquis were pacified on the pretext that the 
marquis should have possession of Tyre, Berytus, and 
Sidon, and on condition that he should be faithful and 
strenuous for the interests of the king and his kingdom. 

At length the towns-people liked not their privation 
of liberty, and determined to try the issue of a sea-fight. 
They, therefore, led forth their galleys by twos, and 
keeping good order they rowed into the offing to meet 
and attack those that were coming ; our men prepared 
to meet them as they came on, and since there was no 



1 189. A SEA-FIGHT. 85 

means of getting away, prepared to face them with 
greater resolution. On the other hand our men got on 
board our war-ships, and straining to the left by an ob- 
lique course, retreated to a distance and gave the enemy 
free means of egress. The sea was perfectly tranquil 
and calm, as if it favored the battle, and the rippling 
wave impeded neither the shock of the attacking ship 
nor the stroke of the oars. As they closed, the trumpets 
sounded on both sides. A terrific clang is roused, and 
the battle is commenced by the throwing of missiles. 
Our men implore the Divine assistance and ply their 
oars strenuously, and dash at the enemy's ships with 
their beaks. Soon the battle began ; the oars become 
entangled and they fight hand to hand, having grappled 
each others' ships together, and they fire the decks 
with burning oil, which is vulgarly called Greek fire. 
That kind of fire, with a detestable stench and livid 
flames, consumes both flint and steel ; it cannot be ex- 
tinguished by water, but is subdued by the sprinkling of 
sand, and put out by pouring vinegar on it. But what can 
be more dreadful than a fight at sea ? what more savage 
where such various fates await the combatants ? Some 
are tortured by the burning flames ; some, falling over- 
board, are swallowed by the waves ; others, wounded, 
perish by the enemy's weapons. One galley, unskilfully 
managed by our men, exposed its flank to the foe ; and 
being set on fire received the Turks as they boarded 
her on all sides. The rowers in their fright fell into the 
sea ; but a few soldiers, impeded by their heavy armor, 
and restrained by ignorance of swimming, took courage 
from desperation, and commenced an unequal fight ; and 
trusting in the Lord's valor, a few of them overcame 
numbers ; and having slain the foe, they brought back 



86 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

the half-burnt vessel in triumph. Another ship was 
boarded by the enemy, who had driven the combatants 
from the upper deck, while those who were below strove 
to escape by the help of their oars. Wondrous and 
terrible was the conflict ; for, the oars being pulled dif- 
ferent ways, the galley was drawn first one way, then the 
other, as the Turks drove it ; yet our men prevailed, and 
the enemy, who rowed on the upper deck, being over- 
come and thrust down by the Christians, yielded. In 
this naval contest the enemy lost both the galley and 
a galleon, together with their crews ; and our men, un- 
hurt and joyful, gained a glorious triumph. 

Having drawn the captured galley on shore, they 
gave it up to be plundered by both sexes, who came to 
meet them. On this, our women, dragging the Turks 
by the hair, after treating them shamefully, beheaded 
them. . . . A like sea-fight was never seen, — so destruc- 
tive in its issue, accomplished with so much danger, 
and completed with so much cost. In the mean time 
the Turkish army from without, though deeply bewail- 
ing our victory, persisted in making attacks upon our 
men who were within the trench, endeavoring either to 
fill up the completed portion, by casting back the earth, 
or to slay those who resisted. Our men sustaining their 
attack, though with difficulty, fight under great disad- 
vantages, for they seemed unequal to contend against 
so countless a multitude, — for the numbers of the as- 
sailants continually increased, and we had to take pre- 
cautions on the side of the city lest they also should 
rush in and assault us. There was amongst the assail- 
ants a fiendish race, very impetuous and obstinate ; 
deformed in nature, as they were unlike to the others in 
character; of a darker appearance, of vast stature, of 



nSr). THE ISSUE DOUBTFUL. 87 

exceeding ferocity, having on their heads red coverings 
instead of helmets ; carrying in their hands clubs bris- 
tling with iron teeth, which neither helmet nor coat of 
mail could withstand ; and they had a carved image of 
Mahomet for a standard. So great was the multitude 
of this evil race, that as fast as one party was thrown 
to the earth, another rushed forward over them. Thus, 
by their constant attacks, they confounded our men so 
much that we doubted which way to turn ourselves ; for 
as there was neither security nor rest, we were distressed 
on all sides; at one time guarding ourselves from sallies 
of the besieged from the city, at another from the in- 
cessant attacks of the enemy from without ; and again 
from the side of the sea, where their galleys were lying 
in wait to convey the Turks into the city as they arrived, 
or to intercept the succors which were coming to us, the 
Christians. At length, by favor of the Divine mercy, 
our adversaries were driven back and repulsed. 

Meanwhile, according to the various events of war, 
as has been said, success changing from one side to the 
other, there occurred manifold incidents, not less won- 
derful than to be wondered at, which seem worthy of 
our notice. . . . Amongst those who were carrying 
earth to make a mound in the ditch for assaulting the 
town more easily was a woman who labored with great 
diligence and earnestness, and went to and fro unceas- 
ingly, and encouraged others unremittingly, in order 
that the work might be accomplished ; but her zeal put 
an end to her life and labors ; for while a crowd of all 
sexes and ages were constantly coming and going to 
complete the work in question, and while the aforesaid 
woman was occupied in depositing what she had brought, 



88 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

a Turk, who had been lying in wait for her, struck her 
a mortal blow with a dart. As she fell to the ground, 
writhing with the violence of her pain, she entreated 
her husband and many others who had come up to 
assist her, with tears in her eyes, and very urgently, 
saying, " By your love for me, my dearest lord, by your 
piety as my husband, and the faith of our marriage con- 
tracted of old, permit not my corpse to be removed 
from this place ; but I pray and beseech you, that since 
I can do nothing more towards the fulfilment of the 
work, I may deem myself to have done some good, if 
you will allow my lifeless body to be laid in the trench 
instead of earth, for it will soon be earth." Oh, zeal of 
woman, worthy of imitation ! for she ceased not, even 
dead, to help those who labored, and in her death con- 
tinued to show her zeal in the cause ! 

There were two friends, comrades in misfortune as 
well as in war, so needy and distressed that the two 
possessed only one piece of money, commonly called an 
angevin, and with that only they wished to purchase some- 
thing to eat ; but what could they do ? It was a mere 
trifle, and worth little, even if there had been abundance 
of all sorts of good things j and they had nothing else 
but their armor and clothing. They considered for a 
long time very thoughtfully what they should buy with 
that one little piece, and how it could be done to ward 
off the pressing evil of the day. They at last came to 
the resolution of buying some beans, since nothing was 
to be bought of less value ; with difficulty, therefore, 
they obtained, after much entreaty, thirteen beans for 
their dinner, one of which, on returning home, they 
found consumed by maggots, and therefore unfit for 
eating. Upon this, by mutual agreement, they went a 




RICHARD ClEUR-DE-LION 



1 189. KING RICHARD ARRIVES. 89 

long distance in search of the seller, who consented, not 
without difficulty and after much supplication, to give 
them a whole bean in exchange. 



On the Saturday before the festival of the blessed 
apostle Barnabas, in the Pentecost week, King Richard x 
landed at Acre with his retinue, and the earth was 
shaken by the acclamations of the exulting Christians. 
The people testified their joy by shouts of welcome and 
the clang of trumpets. The day was kept as a jubilee, 
and universal gladness reigned around, on account of 
the arrival of the king, long wished for by all nations. 
The Turks, on the other hand, were terrified and cast 
down by his coming; for they perceived that all egress 
and return would be at an end, in consequence of the 
multitude of the king's galleys. The two kings conducted 
each other from the port, and paid one another the 
most obsequious attention. Then King Richard retired 
to the tent prepared for him, and forthwith entered 
into arrangements about the siege; for it was his most 
anxious care to find out by what means, artifice, and 
machines they could capture the city without loss of 
time. 

No pen can sufficiently describe the joy of the people 
on the king's arrival, nor tongue detail it. The very 
calmness of the night was thought to smile upon them 
with a purer air ; the trumpets clanged, horns sounded, 
and the shrill intonations of the pipe, and the deeper 
notes of the timbrel and harp, struck upon the ear ; 
and soothing symphonies were heard, like various notes 



1 His father, Henry II. of England, had died since Richard joined the 
Crusades. 



90 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

blended into one ; and there was not a man who did 
not, after his own fashion, indulge in joy and praise, — 
either singing popular ballads to testify the gladness of 
his heart, or reciting the deeds of the ancients, stimulat- 
ing by their example the spirit of the moderns. Some 
drank wine, from costly cups, to the health of the sing- 
ers, while others, mixing together, high and low, passed 
the night in constant dances. And their joy was height- 
ened by the taking of Cyprus by King Richard, — a 
place so useful and necessary to him, and one which 
would be of the utmost service to the army. As a fur- 
ther proof of the exultation of their hearts, and to illume 
the darkness of the night, wax torches and flaming lights 
sparkled in profusion, so that night seemed to be usurped 
by the brightness of day, and the Turks thought the 
whole valley was on fire. 

By the conjunction of the retinue of two kings an 
immense army of Christians was formed. With the King 
of France, who had arrived on the octaves of Easter, 
there came the Count of Flanders, the Count of St. Paul, 
William de Garlande, William des Barres, Drogo 
d'Amiens, William de Mirle, and the Count of Perche ; 
and with them also came the marquis, of whom we have 
before spoken, and who aspired to be King of Jeru- 
salem. But why should we enumerate them singly? 
There was not a man of influence or renown in France 
who came not, then or afterwards, to the siege of Acre ; 
and on the following day of Pentecost, King Richard 
arrived with an army, the flower of war, and upon learn- 
ing that the King of France had gained the good-will 
and favor of all by giving to each of his soldiers three 
aurei a. month, not to be outdone or equalled in gen- 
erosity, he proclaimed by mouth of herald, that whoso- 



1 189. THE rETKARIA. 9 1 

ever was in his service, no matter of what nation, should 
receive four statute aurei a month for his pay. By these 
means his generosity was extolled by all, for he out- 
shone every one else in merit and favors, as he outdid 
them in gifts and magnificence. "When," exclaimed 
they, " will the first attack take place by a man whom 
we have expected so long and anxiously, — a man, by 
far the first of kings, and the most skilled in war 
throughout Christendom ? Now let the will of God be 
done, for the hope of all rests on King Richard ! " 

The King of France first recovered from his sickness 
and turned his attention to the construction of machines 
and petrarias, suitable for attacks, and which he deter- 
mined to ply night and day, and he had one of superior 
quality, to which they gave the name of " Bad Neigh- 
bor." The Turks also had one they called " Bad Kins- 
man," which by its violent casts often broke " Bad 
Neighbor " in pieces, but the King of France rebuilt it, 
until by constant blows he broke down part of the prin- 
cipal city wall, and shook the tower Maledictum. On 
one side, the petraria of the Duke of Burgundy plied ; 
on the other, that of the Templars did severe execution ; 
while that of the Hospitallers never ceased to cast terror 
among the Turks. Besides these, there was one petraria, 
erected at the common expense, which they were in the 
habit of calling the "petraria of God." Near it there 
constantly preached a priest, a man of great probity, 
who collected money to restore it at their joint expense, 
and to hire persons to bring stones for casting. By 
means of this engine a part of the wall of the tower 
Maledictum was at length shaken down, for about two 
poles' length. The Count of Flanders had a very choice 



92 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

petraria of large size, which after his death King Richard 
possessed ; besides a smaller one, equally good. These 
two were plied incessantly, close by a gate the Turks 
used to frequent, until part of the tower was knocked 
down. In addition to these two, King Richard had 
constructed two others of choice material and workman- 
ship, which would strike a place at an incalculable 
distance. He had also built one put together very 
compactly, which the people called " Berefred," with 
steps to mount it, fitting most tightly to it ; covered with 
raw hides and ropes, and having layers of most solid 
wood, not to be destroyed by any blows, nor open to 
injury from the pouring thereon of Greek fire, or any 
other material. He also prepared two mangonels, one 
of which was of such violence and rapidity that what it 
hurled reached the inner rows of the city market-place. 
These engines were plied day and night, and it is well 
known that a stone sent from one of them killed twelve 
men with its blow. The stone was afterwards carried to 
Saladin for inspection ; and King Richard had brought 
it from Messina, which city he had taken. Such stones, 
and flinty pieces of the smoothest kind, nothing could 
withstand ; but they either shattered in pieces the 
object they struck, or ground it to powder. 

The city of Acre, from its strong position, and its 
being defended by the choicest men of the Turks, ap- 
peared difficult to be taken by assault. The French 
had hitherto spent their labor in vain in constructing 
machines and engines for breaking down the walls with 
the greatest care ; for whatever they erected, at a great 
expense, the Turks destroyed with Greek fire or some 
devouring conflagration. Amongst other machines and 
engines which the King of France had erected for 



n 89. THE CAT. 93 

breaking clown the walls, he had prepared one, with 
great labor, to be used for scaling it, which they called 
a " cat," because like a cat it crept up and adhered to 
the wall. He had also another made of strong hurdle- 
twigs, put together most compactly, which they used to 
call a " cercleia," and under its covering of hides the 
King of France used to sit, and employ himself in 
throwing darts from a sling ; he would thus watch the 
approach of the Turks, above on the walls, by the bat- 
tlements, and hit them unawares. But it happened one 
day that the French were eagerly pressing forward to 
apply their cat to the walls, when, behold ! the Turks 
let down upon it a heap of the driest wood, and threw 
upon it a quantity of Greek fire, as well as upon the 
hurdle they had constructed with such toil, and then 
aimed a petraria in that direction, and all having forth- 
with caught fire, they broke them in pieces by the blows 
from their petraria. Upon this the King of France was 
enraged beyond measure, and began to curse all those 
who were under his command ; and rated them shame- 
fully for not exacting condign vengeance of the Saracens, 
who had done them such injuries. In the heat of his 
passion, and when the day was drawing in, he published 
an edict, by voice of herald, that an assault should be 
made upon the city on the morrow. . . . There hap- 
pened a wonderful event, not to be passed over in 
silence. There was a man of renown for his tried valor 
and excellence, named Alberic Clements, who, when he 
saw the French toiling to very little purpose, exerted his 
strength in the vehemence of his ardor, exclaiming, 
" This day I will perish, or, if it please God, I will enter 
into the city of Acre." With these words he boldly 
mounted the ladder ; and as he reached the top of the 



94 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

wall the Turks fell on him from all sides and killed him. 
The French were on the point of following him, but 
were overwhelmed by the pressure of numbers which 
the ladder could not hold, and some were bruised to 
death, and others dragged out much injured. The 
Turks shouted with the greatest joy and applause when 
they saw the accident, for it was a very severe misfor- 
tune. They surrounded and overcame Alberic Clements, 
who was left alone on the top of the wall, and pierced 
him with innumerable wounds. He thus verified what 
he had before said, — that he would die a martyr if he 
was unable to render his friends assistance by entering 
Acre. The French were much discouraged by his loss, 
and ceasing the assault gave themselves up to lamenta- 
tion and mourning on account of his death, for he was a 
man of rank and influence and great valor. 

Not long after the French miners, by their persever- 
ance, undermined the tower Maledictum, and supported 
it by placing beams of wood underneath. The Turks 
also, digging in the same direction, had reached the 
same part of the foundations ; on which they entered 
into a mutual treaty of peace that the Turks should 
depart uninjured, and some of the Christians whom 
they held captive were, by agreement, in like manner 
set at liberty. On discovering this the Turks were very 
much chagrined, and stopped up the passages by which 
they had gone out. . . . What can we say of this race 
of unbelievers who thus defended their city ? They must 
be admired for their valor in war, and were the honor 
of their whole nation, and had they been of the right 
faith they would not have had their superiors as men 
throughout the world. Yet they dreaded our men, not 
without reason, for they saw the choicest soldiers from 



^> 



1 1 89. SALVATION AND SALADIN. 95 

the ranks of all Christendom come to destroy them ; 
their walls in part broken down, in part shattered, the 
greater portion of their army mutilated, some killed, 
and others weakened by their wounds. . . . 

Meanwhile, the petrariai of the Christians never 
ceased, day and night, to shake the walls, and when the 
Turks saw this they were smitten with wonder, astonish- 
ment, terror, and confusion ; and many, yielding to their 
fears, threw themselves down from the walls by night, 
and without waiting for the promised aid, very many 
sought, with supplications, the sacrament of baptism 
and Christianity. There was little doubt, and with good 
reason as to their merits, that they presumptuously 
asked the boon more from the pressure of urgent fear 
than from any divine inspiration ; but there are differ- 
ent steps by which men arrive at salvation. 

Saladin, perceiving the danger of delay, at length 
determined to yield to the entreaties of the besieged ; 
he was, moreover, persuaded by his admirals and 
satraps, and his influential courtiers, who had many 
friends and kinsmen amongst the besieged. The latter 
alleged also that he was bound to them by his promise 
made on the Mahometan law, that he would procure 
for them an honorable capitulation at the last moment, 
lest, perchance, made prisoners at discretion, they should 
be exterminated or put to an ignominious death, and 
thus the law of Mahomet, which had been strictly ob- 
served by their ancestors, be effaced by its dependence 
on him ; and, nevertheless, very much would be dero- 
gated from his name and excellence if the worshippers 
of Mahomet should fall into the hands of the Christians. 
They also begged to remind Saladin of the fact that 
they, a chosen race of Turks, in obedience to his com- 



g6 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

mands, had been cooped up in the city and withstood 
the siege for so long a time ; they reminded him too 
that they had not seen their wives and children for 
three years, during which period the siege had lasted ; 
and they said it would be better to surrender the city 
than that people of such merit should be destroyed. 
The princes persuading the sultan to this effect that 
their latter condition might not be worse than their for- 
mer one, he assented to their making peace on the best 
terms they could, and they drew up a statement of what 
appeared to them the most proper terms of treaty. On 
the messengers bringing back the resolution of Saladin 
and his satraps the besieged were filled with great joy, 
and forthwith the principal men of the city went to the 
kings, and, through their interpreters, offered to surren- 
der unconditionally the city of Acre, the Cross, and two 
hundred and fifty noble Christian captives ; and when 
they perceived this did not satisfy them they offered 
two thousand noble Christian captives, and five hundred 
of inferior rank, whom Saladin would bring together 
from all parts of his kingdom, if they would let the 
Turks depart from their city, with their shirts only, 
leaving behind them their arms and property ; and, as a 
ransom for themselves, they would give two hundred 
thousand Saracenic talents. As security for the per- 
formance of these conditions they offered to deliver up, 
as hostages, all the men of noble or high rank in the 
city. After the two kings had considered with the 
wisest of the chiefs the opinion of all was for accepting 
the offer and consenting to the conditions, that on 
taking the oath for security and subscribing the terms 
of peace they might quit the city without carrying any- 
thing with them, having first given up the hostages. . . . 



1 189. THE SURRENDER OF ACRE. 97 

And when the day came that the Turks, so renowned 
for their courage and valor, most active in the exercise 
of war, and famous for their magnificence, appeared on 
the walls ready to leave the city, the Christians went 
forth to look at them, and were struck with admiration 
when they remembered the deeds they had done. They 
were also astonished at the cheerful countenances of 
those who were thus driven almost penniless from their 
city, their demeanor unchanged by adversity; and those 
who but now had been compelled by sheer necessity to 
own themselves conquered, and betake themselves to 
supplication, bore no marks of care, as they came forth, 
nor any signs of dejection at the loss of all they pos- 
sessed — not even in the firmness of their countenances, 
for they seemed to be conquerors by their courageous 
bearing ; but the form of superstitious idolatry and the 
miserable error of sinfulness threw a stain upon their 
warlike glories. At last, when all the Turks had de- 
parted, the Christians, with the two kings at their head, 
entered the city without opposition, through the open 
gates, with dances and joy and loud vociferations, 
glorifying God and giving Him thanks, because He had 
magnified His mercy to them, and had visited them, and 
redeemed His people. 

On the Wednesday before the feast of St. Mark the 
Evangelist, the king and his army set out to Gadida to 
protect the city, but found no one there, for the enemy 
had taken to flight when they heard of his coming. On 
their way back the king attacked a fierce boar, which, 
hearing the noise of the party passing by, had come out 
and stood in the way. The fierce animal, foaming at 
the mouth with rage, and with his shaggy hair bristling 

7 



98 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

up, and his ears erect, seemed to be collecting all his 
strength and fury to receive or make an attack. He 
did not move from his place when the king shouted ; 
nay, when the king made a circuit round him, he also 
turned himself in his astonishment round in a circle, 
and kept himself in the same place which he had first 
occupied. The king, now making use of his lance for a 
hunting spear, moved on to pierce him ; and the boar, 
turning a little to one side, prepared to meet him. The 
animal was of enormous size and terrible aspect, and 
the lance which was boldly thrust against his broad 
breast broke in two, from not being strong enough to 
bear the force of both, as they were closing with each 
other. The boar, now rendered furious by his wound, 
rushed with all his might upon the king, who had not 
an inch of room, or a moment of time to turn away ; so 
putting spurs to his horse he fairly leapt over the 
animal, unharmed, though the boar tore away the hinder 
trappings of his horse, but the activity of the latter 
frustrated the blow, and the part of the lance which 
was fixed in the animal's breast prevented him from 
coming to closer quarters. They then made a simul- 
taneous attack on each other, and the boar made a 
rapid movement, as if to close with the king ; but he, 
brandishing his sword, smote him with it as he passed, 
and stunned him with the blow ; then wheeled round 
his horse, and, cutting the boar's sinews, he consigned 
the animal to the care of his huntsmen. 



It also happened . . . that while the king was staying 
there (at Betnoble) they were much comforted by news 
which was brought to the king ; for a devout man, the 



1 1 89. THE HOLY CROSS. 99 

abbat of St. Elie, whose countenance bespoke holiness, 
with long beard and head of snow, came to the king 
and told him that a long time ago he had concealed a 
piece of the Holy Cross, in order to preserve it, until 
the Holy Land should be rescued from the infidels and 
restored entirely to its former state, and that he alone 
knew of this hidden treasure, and that he had often 
been pressed by Saladin, who had tried to make him 
discover the Cross by the most searching inquiries, but 
that he had always baffled his questioners by ambiguous 
replies, and deluded them with false statements ; and 
that on account of his contumacy, Saladin had ordered 
him to be bound, but he persisted in asserting that he 
had lost the piece of the Cross during the taking of the 
City of Jerusalem, and had thus deluded him notwith- 
standing his anxiety to find it. The king, hearing this, 
set out immediately, with the abbat and a great number 
of people, to the place of which the abbat had spoken ; 
and having taken up the piece of the Holy Cross with 
humble veneration, they returned to the army ; and, 
together with the people, they kissed the Cross with 
much piety and contrition. 

In the mean time our men, having by God's grace 
escaped destruction, the Turkish army returned to Sala- 
din, who is said to have ridiculed them by asking where 
Melech Richard was, for they had promised to bring 
him a prisoner. "Which of you," continued he, "first 
seized him, and where is he ? why is he not produced ? " 
To whom one of the Turks that came from the furthest 
countries of the earth, replied : " In truth, my lord, 
Melech Richard, about whom you ask, is not here ; we 
have never heard since the beginning of the world that 



L.ofC. 



100 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1189. 

there ever was such a knight, so brave, and so ex- 
perienced in arms. In every deed at arms he is ever 
foremost; in deeds he is without a rival, the first to 
advance, and the last to retreat; we did our best to 
seize him, but in vain, for no one can escape from his 
sword ; his attack is dreadful ; to engage with him is 
fatal, and his deeds are beyond human nature." 




- 



-• 



HERNANDO CORTES 



V. 

HERNANDO CORTES'S LETTERS. 

ALL this talk about Asia interested the children in 
the old geography of Asia. They could see, by 
the map in Col. Yule's book, how very vague the notion 
of the eastern shore of Asia was. Marco Polo had 
sailed down that shore ; in fact, he came home that way. 

" But," said Tom Rising, " he knew no more about it 
than I knew of Cape Ann and the Isle of Shoals, after 
I went from Boston to Mount Desert in a steamer." 

" Exactly," said Horace Feltham, " but you knew 
that there was no land where you sailed over water, 
and Marco Polo knew the same." 

Then Uncle Fritz showed them a droll old map of the 
world made by Fra Mauro, from the results of Marco 
Polo's discoveries. The southeast shore of Asia had 
a very suspicious curve, and Africa and Hindostan and 
the other peninsulas were all squeezed into the same 
curve. He explained to the children that this was done 
so that the whole of the three Continents, which we call 
the Eastern Hemisphere, might be brought up on one 
round plate, with Jerusalem for the centre. 

" And this was the Asia that Columbus was looking 
for," said Tom Rising. 

"Yes, and this was the Asia Columbus thought he 
had found. 



102 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1534. 

" He thought so, probably, till he died, and for a 
generation other men thought so. It seems certain now 
that the coast of our own United States was put down 
on the maps before it was really discovered. It is 
doubtful how far the Cabots traced it. It is wellnigh 
certain that the supposed discovery by the Verrazzani 
was all a lie. They found people living stark naked 
early in March in the latitude of our New Jersey; they 
found odorous palms and laurels in the same place at 
the same time ; wild roses and lilies in bloom. This is 
indeed ' a lie with a circumstance.' 

" But all the same the coast of the United States was 
on the maps, without any Cape Cod, without any 
Hudson River, without any Chesapeake Bay. It is 
now supposed that, after Florida was discovered on the 
south, and the regions around Newfoundland on the 
north, the geographers were so certain that this was 
the Asiatic coast of Marco Polo, that they drew it 
boldly in." 

When Uncle Fritz had explained this to the children, 
he made Sybil trace the true eastern line of Asia, and 
compare it with the true eastern line of America, and 
they were surprised and amused to see how much they 
resembled each other. 

"When Cortes discovered California," said Uncle 
Fritz, " he gave it that name because in a romance of 
that time, called Esplandian, there was an island called 
California, inhabited by Amazons, in the east of Asia. 
Cortes thought he had struck the east of Asia. He 
thought California was an island, and so he put Cali- 
fornia down on the map. And it has stayed there long 
after everybody forgot the romance, — except Don 
Quixote, and me." 



1520. HERNANDO CORTES 'S LETTERS. 103 

Some of the children said they liked Cortes better 
than they did Pizarro. 

" And well you may," said Uncle Fritz. " Neither of 
them were Christian gentlemen of the type of the nine- 
teenth century. But Cortes was, in every regard, much 
more of a man than Pizarro. And, of all the numerous 
accounts of his marvellous adventures, none are better 
written than those by himself." 

" If only," cried Clem Waters, " he had written in 
English ! I am always groaning about that." 

This was a constant complaint of Clem's. But Uncle 
Fritz told him that in this case his difficulty was solved. 
Cortes's letters to the sovereign have now all been 
translated. They were found in one receptacle or 
another, in different depositories in Europe, for Charles 
V. was here or there or everywhere. But now six of 
them have been found, and have been translated." 

He sent Bob for the different editions of Cortes's 
letters to the sovereign, and, partly guided by Uncle 
Fritz's marks and suggestions, the children read the 
following passages : — 

EXTRACT FROM CORTES'S THIRD AND FOURTH 
LETTERS. 

The next day, after mass, I sent a messenger to the 
town of Vera Cruz to carry the good news that the 
Christians were alive, and that I had entered the city, 
which was quiet. The messenger returned in half an 
hour after his departure, covered with bruises and in- 
juries, crying aloud that all the Indians of the city were 
in arms, and that they had raised the bridges ; and soon 
after an attack was made upon us by so great a multi- 



104 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

tude of people on all sides, that neither the streets nor 
the roofs of the houses were visible on account of the 
crowd, from whom proceeded the most violent outcries 
and terrible shouts that could be conceived. Stones 
thrown by slings fell in such numbers upon the garrison 
that it seemed as if they came down like rain from the 
clouds ; and darts and arrows were so thick that the 
houses and squares were filled with them, and almost 
prevented our walking about. I sallied forth at two or 
three different points, where they were engaged stoutly 
with our men ; and at one time, when a captain had led 
forth two hundred men, they fell upon them before he 
had time to form them in order, and killed four of their 
number, besides wounding the captain and several 
others. I was also wounded, and many of the Span- 
iards who were with me engaged in another quarter. 
We destroyed few of the enemy, because they took 
refuge beyond the bridges, and did us much injury from 
the roofs of houses and terraces, some of which fell 
into our possession and were burned. But they were 
so numerous and strong, and so well defended and sup- 
plied with stones and other arms, that our whole force 
was not sufficient to take them, nor to prevent the 
enemy from attacking us at their pleasure. 

The attack on the fortress or garrison was made with 
such violence that they succeeded in setting fire to sev- 
eral parts of it, and a considerable portion of it was 
burned without our being able to prevent it, until we 
cut away the walls and levelled a portion of the building 
with the ground, by which we obstructed the progress 
of the fire and extinguished it. And had it not been for 
the great caution that I used in posting musketeers, 
archers, and several pieces of artillery, they would have 



1520. HERNANDO CORTES'S LETTERS. 105 

scaled our walls in broad daylight without our being 
able to resist them. Thus we fought all that day until 
the darkness of night enveloped us, and even then they 
continued to assail us with noises and alarms till day- 
light. That night I directed the breaches caused by the 
fire to be repaired, together with all other parts of the 
garrison that seemed to require it; and I arranged 
the quarters, determining who were to remain in them 
the next day, and who were to be engaged without ; at the 
same time I caused suitable care to be taken of the 
wounded, who amounted to more than eighty in num- 
ber. As soon as it was daylight, the enemy renewed 
the combat with still greater vigor than the day before, 
for the number of them was so immense that there was 
t o need of levelling the guns, but only to direct them 
against the mass of Indians. And although the fire- 
arms did much injury, for we played off thirteen arque- 
buses besides matchlocks and cross-bows, they produced 
so little impression that their effect scarcely seemed to 
be felt ; since where a discharge cut down ten or twelve 
men, the ranks were instantly closed up by additional 
numbers, and no apparent loss was perceived. Leaving 
in the garrison a sufficient force for its defence, and as 
large as I could spare, I sallied forth with the rest, and 
took from the enemy several bridges, setting fire to a 
number of houses and destroying the people who de- 
fended them ; but they were so numerous, that although 
we did them much injury, the effect was still impercep- 
tible. Our men were compelled to fight all day long 
without cessation, while the enemy were relieved at in- 
tervals by fresh forces, and still had a superabundance 
of men. But we had none of our Spanish force killed 
on this day, although fifty or sixty were wounded, and 



106 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

we continued the contest till night, when we withdrew 
wearied into the garrison. Seeing the great mischief 
done us by the enemy in wounding and slaying our 
people, while they were either unharmed, or if we caused 
them any loss, it was immediately repaired by their great 
numbers, we spent all that night and the next day in 
constructing three engines of timber, each of which 
would contain twenty men, covered with thick plank to 
protect them from the stones that were thrown from the 
terraces of houses. The persons to be conveyed in the 
machines were musketeers and archers, together with 
others provided with spades, pickaxes, and bars of iron, 
to demolish the barricades erected in the streets and 
pull down the houses. While we were building these 
machines, the enemy did not cease their attacks ; and 
so resolute were they, that when we sallied forth from 
our quarters they attempted to enter them, and we had 
trouble enough to resist their progress. Montezuma, 
who was still a prisoner (together with his son and many 
other persons of distinction, who had been secured at 
the beginning of operations), now came forward and 
requested to be taken to the terrace of the garrison, 
that he might speak to the leaders of his people and in- 
duce them to discontinue the contest. I caused him to 
be taken up, and when he reached a battlement project- 
ing from the fortress, and sought an opportunity to 
address the people who were fighting in that quarter, a 
stone thrown by some one of his own subjects struck 
him on the head with so much force that he died in 
three days after. I then gave his dead body to two 
Indians who were amongst the prisoners, and taking it 
upon their shoulders they bore it away to his people ; 
what afterwards became of it I know not. The war, 



1520. HERNANDO CORTES'S LETTERS. \0J 

however, did not cease, but increased in violence and 
desperation every day. On the same day a cry was heard 
in the quarter where Montezuma had been wounded, 
some of the enemy calling to me to approach there, as 
certain of their captains wished to confer with me. I 
accordingly did so, and we passed amongst them ; when, 
after a long parley, I asked them to discontinue their 
attacks, since they had no good reason for it, having 
received many benefits from me, and having always been 
treated well. Their answer was, that I must depart and 
leave the country, when the war would immediately 
cease ; otherwise they were all resolved to die, or to 
destroy us. This they did, as it appeared, to induce me 
to leave the fortress, that they might cut us off at pleasure 
on our departure from the city, when we were between 
the bridges. I answered them that they need not sup- 
pose I asked for peace from fear, but that I was pained 
to be under the necessity of injuring them and destroy- 
ing so fine a city as theirs. They replied that they 
should not cease their attacks until I departed from the 
city. 

After the engines were completed, immediately on the 
following day, I sallied forth to gain possession of cer- 
tain terraces and bridges ; and placing the engines in 
front, they were followed by four pieces of artillery, with 
many bowmen and shield-bearers, and more than three 
thousand native Tlascalans, who had come with me as 
auxiliaries, subordinate to the Spanish troops. Having 
reached a bridge, we brought the engines near to the 
walls of the terraces, together with scaling ladders, by 
means of which we ascended them. But the multitude 
of people was so great that defended the bridge and the 
terraces, and such showers of heavy stones were thrown 



108 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

from above, and the movements of the engines were dis- 
concerted, and a Spaniard killed and many others 
wounded, without our being able to make any progress, 
although we struggled hard for it, and fought from morn- 
ing till mid-day, when we returned sad enough to our 
quarters. 

The enemy were so much encouraged by this un- 
successful movement on our part, that they advanced 
almost to our doors, and took possession of the great 
temple, to the loftiest and most considerable tower of 
which nearly five hundred Indians, apparently persons 
of rank, ascended, taking with them a large supply of 
bread, water, and other provisions, and a great quantity 
of stones. Most of them were armed with lances of 
large size, having points formed of flint, broader and not 
less sharp than ours ; and from this position they did 
much mischief to the people in the garrison, as it was 
very near. The Spanish soldiers attacked this tower 
two or three times, and attempted to ascend it ; but it 
was very lofty, and the passage up difficult on account 
of its having more than a hundred steps, and those 
above were well supplied with stones and other means 
of defence, and favored by our not having succeeded in 
gaining possession of the neighboring terraces ; in con- 
sequence of these circumstances, every time our soldiers 
attempted the ascent, they came rolling down, many of 
them severely wounded ; and the other portions of the 
enemy's force, seeing this, took courage, and penetrated 
to the very garrison without fear. Being sensible that 
if they continued their assaults while in possession of 
the tower, besides doing us much harm, they would be 
encouraged in the prosecution of the war, I sallied forth 
from the garrison, although lame in my left hand from a 



1520. HERNANDO CORTES 'S LETTERS. 109 

wound I had received in the engagement on the first day ; 
and having tied a shield to my arm, I advanced to the 
tower, attended by a number of Spanish soldiers, and 
caused it to be surrounded at its base by a sufficient 
number of men, as was quite practicable. This precau- 
tion was not a useless one, as the troops stationed around 
the tower were attacked on all sides by the enemy, who 
increased in numbers to favor those within; in the mean 
time I began to ascend the stairs, followed by certain 
Spaniards. While they who were above disputed the 
ascent with great courage, and even overturned three or 
four of my followers, by the aid of God and his glorious 
Mother, for whose house this tower had been designated, 
and whose image had been placed in it, we succeeded in 
ascending, and engaged with the enemy on the upper 
area, until I compelled them to leap down to a lower 
terrace that surrounded it, one pace in width. Of these 
terraces the tower had three or four, about sixteen feet 
one above the other. Some of the enemy fell to the 
very bottom, who, besides the injury received from the 
fall, were slain by the Spanish soldiers stationed around 
the base. Those who remained on the upper terraces 
fought so desperately that we were more than three hours 
engaged with them before they were all despatched ; 
thus all perished, not one escaping. And your sacred 
Majesty may be assured that so arduous was the attempt 
to take this tower, that if God had not broken their 
spirits, twenty of them would have been sufficient to re- 
sist the ascent of a thousand men, although they fought 
with the greatest valor, even unto death. I caused this 
tower and the others within the temple to be burned, 
from which they had removed the images we had placed 
in them. 



110 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

The fierceness of the enemy was somewhat abated 
by the capture of this position ; and while they relaxed 
their exertions throughout the city to a considerable 
degree, I directed my attention to the neighboring 
terrace, and called to the chiefs who had before con- 
ferred with me, but were now somewhat dismayed by 
what they had witnessed. They immediately appeared, 
when I said to them that they saw their inability to main- 
tain their ground ; that we should every day do them 
much injury, destroy many lives, burn and lay waste 
the City; and that we should persevere until nothing 
was left of it or them. They answered, that they were 
well aware much harm would befall them, and that many 
of them would lose their lives ; but that they were still 
determined to make an end of us, even if they should 
all perish in the attempt ; that I might see how the 
streets, public squares, and terraces were filled with 
people, who were so numerous that they had made a 
calculation that if twenty-five thousand of them should 
fall to one of ours, we would be first exterminated, so 
small was our number compared with theirs ; that all the 
causeways leading to the city had been destroyed (which 
was so far true that only one of them remained), and 
thus we had no way of escape but by water ; that they 
knew well we had few provisions and but little fresh 
water, and that ere long we should perish with hunger, 
even if they did not kill us. They were, indeed, quite 
right in saying that had we nothing else to contend 
with, hunger and want would soon put an end to our 
lives. We exchanged many other words, each party 
sustaining his own side. As soon as it was dark, I sallied 
forth with a number of Spaniards, and as I found the 
people were taken by surprise, we obtained possession 



1520 HERNANDO CORTESTS LETTERS. in 

of one street, in which we burned more than three hun- 
dred houses. While the enemy were assembling in that 
quarter in its defence, I speedily turned into another 
street, where I also burned several houses, especially 
certain terraces that adjoined our quarters, from which 
we had experienced much annoyance. Thus the events 
of that night struck great terror into the enemy ; and 
during the same night I caused the engines, that had 
created confusion in our ranks the day before, to be re- 
paired and got in readiness. 

The next morning, in order to follow up the victory 
God had granted us, I sallied forth at break of day 
into the same street where they had routed us the day 
before, and I found the enemy not less prepared for 
defence than they were on the former occasion. But 
as our lives and honor were now at stake, and as that 
street led to a causeway that remained unbroken, 1 ex- 
tending to the main land, although interrupted by eight 
bridges very large and high, and the street itself was 
filled with lofty terraces and towers ; we put forth so 
much resolution and spirit that, with the aid of our 
Lord, we secured that day four of the bridges, and 
burned all of the terraces, houses, and towers, as far as 
the last of these bridges. They had erected during the 
previous night, on all the bridges, many strong breast- 
works of unburnt bricks and clay, so that neither the 
guns nor the crossbows made any impression on them. 
We filled up the space occupied by the four bridges with 
the unburnt bricks and the earth from the breastworks, 
together with a great quantity of stones and timber 
from the burnt houses, although this was not effected 

l This is the street to Tacuba, now a village on solid ground, which was 
then covered entirely by the lakes. 



112 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

without danger, and many Spaniards were wounded. 
The same night I used much precaution in guarding 
the bridges, lest the enemy should succeed in recovering 
them. 

The next day in the morning I made another sally 
from our quarters, and God gave us again success and 
victory, although the enemy appeared in great numbers, 
and defended the bridges, protected by strong en- 
trenchments and ditches which they had formed during 
the night ; we took them all, and covered them up ; and 
some of our horsemen followed at the heels of the fugi- 
tives in the heat of victory, and pursued them to the 
main land. While I was employed in repairing the 
bridges and filling them up, messengers came to me in 
great haste, reporting that the enemy had attacked the 
garrison, and at the same time had sued for peace, 
several of their leaders being in waiting to see me. I 
immediately went with two horsemen to see what they 
wanted. These men assured me that if I would engage 
not to punish them for what they had done, they would 
raise the blockade, replace the bridges that had been 
destroyed, and restore the causeways, and that hereafter 
they would serve your Majesty as they had before done. 
They also requested that I would bring them a priest of 
theirs whom I had taken prisoner, who was, as it were, 
the commander-in-chief of their religion. He came and 
addressed them, and brought about an arrangement 
between me and them ; and it appeared that they imme- 
diately despatched messengers to inform the captains 
and the people who were in the camp that the attacks 
on the garrison and all other offensive operations 
should cease. Upon this being done we took leave of 
them, and I went to the garrison to procure some food. 



1520. HERNANDO CORTES 'S LETTERS. 113 

While I was beginning to take some refreshment, infor- 
mation was brought me in great haste that the Indians 
had attacked the bridges which we had taken the same 
day, and had killed certain Spaniards. God only knows 
with what feelings I received this intelligence, since I 
had thought that we had nothing more to trouble us 
after having gained the possession of the avenue lead- 
ing out of the city. I mounted in the greatest possible 
haste, and galloped the whole length of the street, fol- 
lowed by a few horsemen ; and without stopping a 
moment I dashed in amongst the Indians, and put them 
to flight whilst I regained the bridges, and pursued 
them to the main land. As the infantry were wearied, 
wounded, and panic-struck, they did not follow me, and 
I saw the dangerous situation in which I was placed 
from being unsupported by them. On this account, 
after having passed the bridges, when I sought to return 
I found them in possession of the enemy, and sunk to a 
great depth where we had filled them up ; and both 
sides of the causeway were covered with people, on the 
land and water, who galled us with stones and arrows 
to such a degree that if God had not been pleased to 
interpose mysteriously in our behalf, it would have been 
impossible for us to escape thence ; and, indeed, it was 
rumored amongst the people in the city that I was dead. 
When I reached the last bridge next the city I found 
all the cavalry that had accompanied me fallen in, and 
one horse without a rider ; and as in this situation I 
could not pass, I rushed alone against the enemy, and 
thus opened a passage by which the horsemen could 
extricate themselves. After this I found the bridge 
free and passed over, although with some trouble, as I 
had to leap my horse in one place nearly six feet from 

S 



114 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

one side to the other ; but as I and my horse were well 
protected by armor the enemy did us no harm more 
than to cause our bodies a little pain. 

Thus the enemy that night came off victorious, having 
regained four of the bridges. The other four I left 
well guarded, and returned to the garrison, where I con- 
structed a bridge of timber that could be carried by 
forty men. Seeing the dangerous situation in which we 
were now placed, and the very serious injury that the 
Indians were doing us every day ; and fearing that they 
would also destroy the remaining causeway, as they had 
done the others, and when that was effected death 
would be our inevitable fate ; and moreover, having 
been often entreated by all my companions to abandon 
the place, the greater part of whom were so badly 
wounded as to be disabled from fighting, I determined 
to quit the city that night. I took all the gold and 
jewels belonging to your Majesty that could be re- 
moved and placed them in one apartment, where I 
delivered it in parcels to the officers of your Highness, 
whom I had designated for this purpose in the royal 
name ; and I begged and desired the alcaldes, regidores, 
and all the people, to aid me in removing and preserv- 
ing this treasure ; I gave up my mare to carry as much 
as she could bear ; and I selected certain Spaniards, as 
well my own servants as others, to accompany the gold 
and the mare, and the rest the magistrates above men- 
tioned and myself distributed amongst the Spaniards, 
to be borne by them. Abandoning the garrison, together 
with much wealth belonging to your Highness, the 
Spaniards and myself, I went forth as secretly as pos- 
sible, taking with me a son and two daughters of 
Muteczuma 1 and Cacamacin, cacique of Aculuacan, with 

1 This is always the spelling in Cortes's letters. 



1520. HERNANDO CORTESS LETTERS. 115 

his brother, whom I had appointed in his place, and 
several other governors of provinces and cities that I 
had taken prisoners. 

Arriving at the bridges (now broken up) which the 
Indians had left, the bridge that I carried was thrown 
over where the first of them had been, without much 
difficulty, as there was none to offer resistance, except 
some watchmen who were stationed there, and who 
uttered so loud cries, that before we had arrived at the 
second an immense multitude of the enemy assailed us, 
fighting in every direction, both by land and water. I 
sallied across with great speed, followed by five horse- 
men and a hundred foot, with whom I passed all the 
(broken) bridges swimming, and reached the main land. 
Leaving the people who formed this advance party, I 
returned to the rear, where I found the troops hotly en- 
gaged ; it is incalculable how much our people suffered, 
as well Spaniards as our Indian allies of Tascaltecal, 
nearly all of whom perished, together with many native 
Spaniards and horses, besides the loss of the gold, 
jewels, cotton cloth, and many other things we had 
brought away, including the artillery. Having collected 
all that were alive, I sent them on before, while with 
three or four horse and about twenty foot that dared to 
remain with me, I followed in the rear, incessantly en- 
gaged with the Indians, until we at length reached a city 
called Tacuba (Tlacopan), beyond the causeway, after 
encountering a degree of toil and danger, the extent of 
which God only knows. As often as I turned against 
the enemy, I met a shower of arrows and darts and 
stones, and there being water on both sides, they assailed 
us without exposing themselves, and without fear ; for 
when we attacked them on the causeway, they imme- 



Il6 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

diately leapt into the water, receiving little hurt, except 
some few, who, when the multitude was so great as to 
trample upon one another, fell and perished. Thus with 
great labor and fatigue I brought off all this portion of 
our force without any of the Spaniards or Indians being 
wounded or slain, except one of the horse that had gone 
with me to the rear, where they fought with no less fury 
than in front or on the flanks, although the hottest part 
of the fight was in the extreme rear, where our men were 
constantly exposed to fresh attacks from the inhabitants 
of the city. 

Having reached the city of Tacuba, I found all our 
people gathered together in the square, not knowing 
where to go ; I gave immediate directions to march 
into the country, before the inhabitants should collect in 
greater numbers in the city, and that they should take 
possession of the terraces, as the enemy would be likely 
to do us much injury from them. Those who had led 
the van, saying that they knew not in which direction to 
leave the city, I bade them remain with the rear, while 
I took command of the van until I had led them out 
into the open fields, where I waited till the rest came 
up. When the rear arrived, I saw that they had suffered 
some loss, and that they had left on the road much gold, 
which the Indians had seized. I remained there until 
all our people had arrived, closely pursued by the enemy. 
I kept the enemy at bay until the infantry had taken 
possession of a hill on which there was a tower with a 
strong building, which they took without suffering any 
loss, and I maintained my position, not suffering the 
enemy to advance, until the hill was taken; 1 and God 

1 Called the hill of Muteczuma, on which is now a celebrated sanctuary 
of the Lady de los Remedios. 




MONTEZUMA 



1520. HERNANDO CORTES 'S LETTERS. 117 

only knows the toil and fatigue with which it was accom- 
plished ; for of twenty-four horses that remained to us, 
there was not one that could move briskly, nor a horse- 
man able to raise his arm, nor a foot-soldier unhurt who 
could make any effort. When we had reached the build- 
ing, we fortified ourselves in it ; and the enemy invested 
it, remaining till night without allowing us an hour of 
rest. 

In this defeat it was ascertained that one hundred 
and fifty Spaniards lost their lives, together with forty- 
five mares and horses, and more than two thousand 
Indians, our auxiliaries ; amongst the latter were the son 
and daughters of Muteczuma, and the other caciques 
whom we had taken prisoners. The same night 1 about 
midnight, thinking that we were not perceived, we sallied 
forth from the building very secretly, leaving in it many 
lighted fires, without knowing our route, nor where to go, 
except that one of the Tascaltecal Indians who guided 
us promised to lead us to his country, if the enemy did 
net embarrass the route. But guards had been stationed 
around who noticed our movements, and gave the alarm 
to the multitudes of people dwelling in that vicinity, of 
whom great numbers were collected, who pursued us 
until daylight, when five horsemen who went before as 
runners attacked some squadrons of people on the road, 
and killed a number of them ; these fled, supposing that 
there was a greater number of horse and foot than ap- 
peared. When I saw that the number of the enemy was 
increasing on all sides, I made a disposition of our force, 
and out of those remaining unhurt I formed squadrons, 
and placed them in front and rear, and on the flanks ; 
I put the wounded in the centre ; and I also arranged 

1 This is the night known as the sorrowful night, la noche triste. 



Il8 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

the position of the horse. During the whole of that day 
we were engaged in fighting in every direction, so that 
during the whole night and day we did not advance more 
than three leagues. It pleased our Lord when the night 
came to show us a tower and a good house on a hill, 
where we entrenched ourselves ; and that night the 
enemy left us undisturbed, except that near the dawn of 
day there was a sudden alarm that only sprung from the 
constant apprehension we all had of the multitude of 
people that was continually at our heels. 

"You see," said Uncle Fritz, "that it was not all 
sunshine with Cortes. Now you shall read something 
of his resource as an explorer." 

EXTRACT FROM CORTES'S FIFTH LETTER. 

One day the idea struck me that by following down 
the river of that village I might perhaps come to the 
other large river that empties itself in the sweet gulfs, 
where I had left my brigantine, as well as my boats and 
canoes. I consulted the matter with some of the pris- 
oners of that village, and they all seemed to agree in 
saying that the two rivers communicated ; but as they 
did not understand us well, and they spoke a language 
totally different from those we had hitherto met, no great 
reliance could be placed in their information. Through 
signs, however, and aided by a few words in that lan- 
guage which I understood, I begged that two of them 
should accompany ten of my Spaniards, and show them 
the meeting of the two rivers. This they promised to do, 
adding that the place was near at hand, and that they 
would be back on the next day. And so it was, for God 
permitted that after marching two leagues through very 



1520. THE APOLOCHIC RIVER. 119 

fine orchards, full of cacao and other fruit trees, they 
should guide my men to the banks of that large river, 
which they said communicated with the gulf, where my 
shipping was. They even went so far as to say that the 
river's name was Apolochic, and that they had often 
navigated it. On their return, the next day, I asked 
them how many days it would take a canoe to go down 
the river to the gulfs, and having answered me that five 
days were sufficient to accomplish the journey, I deter- 
mined upon sending thither two Spaniards, accompanied 
by one of the guides, who offered to take them by cross- 
roads known to him to the very spot on the gulf where 
my ships were. I gave my men instructions to have the 
brigantine, boats, and canoes taken to the mouth of that 
large river, and that, leaving the vessel behind, they 
should try with one of the canoes and a boat to ascend 
the river to the spot where the other one joined it. This 
being done, and the men despatched on their errand, I 
ordered four rafts to be constructed with pieces of 
timber and very large bamboos, capable of supporting 
forty faneagues or bushels of dried maize, and ten men 
each, without counting a quantity of beans, peppers, and 
cacao, which each Spaniard afterwards threw into it for 
his own private supply. The rafts being made, after 
eight days' hard work, and the provisions placed on 
them, the Spaniards I had sent to the brigantine came 
to me and said that, after ascending the river during six 
consecutive days, they had found it impossible for the 
boat to go on, and had left it behind with ten Spaniards 
to guard it ; that, prosecuting their journey with the 
canoe, they had arrived at a place, about one league 
down the river, where, worn out by fatigue, and unable 
to use their oars, they had left it hidden among the 



120 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

bushes ; that on their way up the river they had met 
Indians, and fought occasionally with them, and although 
they were then few in number, they had reason to fear 
that they would come back in force, and wait for their 
return. I immediately sent people to look out for the 
canoe, and bring it alongside of the rafts ; and having 
placed on these all the provisions we had collected, 
chose among my people those who were most capable 
of directing those rafts, and avoiding by means of great 
poles the many floating timbers and gigantic trees with 
which the bed of the river was covered, and which ren- 
dered the navigation extremely dangerous. The remain- 
der of my people, under a captain appointed for the 
purpose, I sent to the gulf by the same route which we 
had followed in coming up to Chacujal, with instructions 
that if they arrived before me they were to wait at the 
place of our landing until I should come for them, and 
that if, on the contrary, I was before them on the spot, 
I would not move until they came. As to myself, I em- 
barked in the canoe with only two cross-bow men, the 
only ones disposable in all my suite. Though the 
journey I was about to undertake was exceedingly dan- 
gerous, owing to the impetuosity and strength of the 
current, as well as the almost certainty that the Indians 
would wait for us on our passage, I nevertheless pre- 
ferred this route by water to the other by water, because 
our stock of provisions went this way, and I could thus 
watch better over it. And so, trusting myself in the 
hands of God, our Saviour, I began descending the 
river with such rapidity, owing to the strength and vio- 
lence of the current, that in less than three hours' navi- 
gation we came to the spot where the boat had been left. 
Here we attempted to lighten the rafts by putting part 



1520. PASSING THE RAPIDS. 121 

of their cargo in the boat, but it was found impracticable, 
for no human effort could stop the rafts, driven on as 
they were by a rapid current. I then embarked in the 
boat, and gave orders that the canoe, well fitted with 
good oars, should go in front of the rafts, in order to see 
whether any Indians lay in ambush, or whether we came 
to any dangerous pass in the river ; I myself remaining 
behind with the boat ready to give assistance to the 
rafts, as it was clear to me that, in case of need. I might 
more easily help from the rear than if placed in the van. 
In this order we went down that river, until about sun- 
set, when one of the rafts struck violently against a 
piece of timber that held fast to the bottom. So strong 
was the shock, that the raft was almost entirely sub- 
merged, and although the violence of the waters at that 
spot made it float again, half its cargo was lost. Three 
hours later in the night, I heard in front of us the shout- 
ing of some Indians, but not choosing to leave the rafts 
behind, I did not go forward to ascertain what it might 
be. The shouting, however, ceased, and we heard no 
more of it for some time. A little later in the night I 
again heard the shouts, at what seemed to me a shorter 
distance ; but I could not ascertain the fact, for the 
canoe went, as I have said, in front, and then three of the 
rafts, and I followed in the rear with the fourth, which, 
owing to the accident sustained, could not go so fast. 

In this manner we proceeded for some length of 
time, until we came to a turning of the river, where the 
current was so strong that, notwithstanding all our 
efforts, rafts and boat were cast on shore. 

Some time before this, hearing no longer those alarm- 
ing shouts, confidence had returned to my people, and 
I myself, taking off my helmet — for I was ill with fever 



122 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

at the time — had laid my head on my hand to see if I 
could rest. It was soon, however, ascertained that the 
shouting we had heard in the distance came from that 
particular spot, for the Indians, who knew the river well, 
as inhabiting its banks, and being almost born on it, 
had followed us for some time along the shore, knowing 
very well that we should be cast by the current on the 
very spot where they were waiting in ambush for us. 
No sooner, therefore, did the canoe and rafts reach the 
place where the Indians lay concealed than we were 
assailed by a volley of arrows from the shore that 
wounded almost every man on board ; though, knowing 
that most of us remained still behind, the attack of 
the Indians was by no means so strong or furious as 
the one they afterwards made on us. Thus assailed, the 
people in the canoe attempted to come back and give 
me notice of the danger, but they never succeeded in 
porting the helm, owing to the strength of the current. 
When, however, it came to our turn to strike the land, 
the Indians gave a most terrific shout, and assailed us 
with such a volley of arrows and stones that not one 
man on board escaped without a wound. I, myself, was 
struck by a stone on the head, the only part of my body 
that was unarmed, having taken off my steel cap some 
time before. God, however, permitted that at the spot 
where this happened the banks of the river should be 
high and the waters deep. To this circumstance we 
owed our salvation ; for the night being dark, some of 
the Indians who attempted to leap upon the rafts and 
boat fell into the water, and I believe that a good num- 
ber of them were drowned in this way. The current 
itself soon extricated us from the danger, so that a few 
minutes after this we scarcely heard their shouts. 



1520. THE GULF REACHED. 123 

The rest of the night passed without encounter of 
any sort, though from time to time we still heard in the 
distance, or from the sides of the river, the Indian war- 
cries. 

The shores, I observed, were covered with villages 
and plantations, and there were, besides, many fine 
orchards with cacao and other fruit trees. 

At dawn of day we were five leagues from the mouth 
of that river that empties itself into the gulf, and where 
the brigantine was waiting for us, and about the hour of 
noon we arrived on the spot, so that in four-and-twenty 
hours we ran no less than twenty long leagues down 
that river. 

Having given orders that the provisions on the rafts 
should be transferred immediately to the brigantine, I 
was informed, to my great disappointment, that most of 
the maize was wet, and that if I could not have it dried 
I ran a risk of losing the whole stock, whereby all the 
trouble we had in procuring it would have proved in 
vain. I immediately caused the dry maize to be put 
aside and stored in the brigantine, and as to that which 
had been spoilt by water, I had it thrown into the two 
boats and in two canoes, and sent it in haste to the 
village for the purpose of drying; the shores of that 
gulf being so swampy and low that there was no spot, 
however small, where the operation could be effectually 
carried on. My men, therefore, went away with the 
boats and canoes, but I gave them orders to send the 
same back to me, the brigantine and one remaining 
canoe being sufficient to convey all my people. Soon 
after their departure I set sail in the brigantine, and 
steered towards the place where it was agreed that I 
should wait for the people coming from Chacujal by 



124 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

land. I waited for them three days, at the end of which 
they all arrived in good spirits, and with no other loss 
but that of a Spaniard, who having eaten of some herbs 
he saw in the fields died almost immediately after. 
They also brought with them an Indian, whom they had 
surprised and taken prisoner near the place where I left 
them. This Indian was dressed differently and spoke 
a language unknown in these parts. I had already 
begun to interrogate him by signs, when a man was 
found among the prisoners who said he understood a 
little of his dialect. In this manner we learned that he 
was a native of Teculutlan. No sooner did I hear that 
name pronounced than I recollected having heard it 
repeated on other occasions, and when I returned to 
the village I consulted certain memoranda of mine, 
where I actually found that name written as being that 
of a place across the country, between which and the 
Spanish establishments in the South Sea, governed by 
Pedro de Alvarado, one of my captains, there was only 
a distance of seventy-eight leagues. The above mem- 
oranda further stated that the village of Teculutlan 
had been visited by Spaniards, and as the Indian bore 
also testimony to the fact, I was very much pleased at 
receiving such intelligence. 

My people being all congregated together, and the 
boats not having yet returned, we consumed all the dry 
grain we had in store, and embarked on board the brig- 
antine, though, the vessel being so very small, we had 
the greatest difficulty to move. It was my idea to cross 
the gulf to that village where we had landed at first, 
because I recollected that the maize plantations were 
very fine and in full grain, though not sufficiently ripe 
for our cutting. Five-and-twenty days had elapsed since 



1520. CAN CORTES BE BELIEVED? 1 25 

that time, and it was to be hoped that a good deal of it 
was dry enough for us to keep ; and it so happened ; for 
being one morning in the middle of the gulf we saw the 
boats and canoes coming towards us, and, having sailed 
altogether in that direction, recognized the place where 
the village was. Immediately after landing, all my peo- 
ple, Spaniards as well as Indians, besides forty native 
prisoners, went straight forward to the village, where 
they found several maize plantations in the finest pos- 
sible condition. The natives, if there were any at the 
place, not having shown themselves or made any oppo- 
sition, my men reaped as much of that maize as they 
could, every man of us, Christian or Indian, making 
that day three journeys, fortunately very short, from the 
village to the ship, loaded with as much grain as he 
could carry. The brigantine being filled as well as the 
boats, I went to the village myself, leaving there all my 
people engaged in that most providential harvest ; I 
afterwards sent to them the two boats, and one more 
belonging to a vessel from New Spain, and that had been 
lost in those waters, and four canoes. In these vessels 
all my people embarked, after having, as I said before, 
brought sufficient provision to last us all for many a 
day. It was, indeed, a most providential supply, and 
one that compensated us for all our past troubles ; for 
had we not found it at that moment we should all have 
perished through hunger. 

" How much of the Cortes wonders do you believe, 
Uncle Fritz ? " 

This was Horace Feltham's question. 

Uncle Fritz said that there were two sets of opinions 
about it. For himself, when Cortes squarely said that 



126 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1520. 

a thing was thus and so, he took it as probably true, 
with due allowance for a man's praise of his own 
achievements, and for Spanish and travellers' exaggera- 
tion. 

But a great deal of what you find in the received ac- 
counts of the conquest must be set down as belonging 
to the same school of romance as in the same days 
wrote tales of chivalry or lives of saints. Especially 
where men do not tell what they saw themselves must 
you be careful when you are dealing with these Spanish 
authorities. 



VI. 

FRA MARCO AND CORONADO. 

WHEN the children came in the next week they 
found Col. Ingham's large study-table cleared 
from books and papers, and quite covered with a dis- 
play of earthenware. 

Blanche asked if there were to be an aesthetic wed- 
ding ; she told him his table seemed to be covered 
with wedding presents. 

" I do not know how the young brides would like my 
crockery," said the colonel, laughing, "but you see I 
could fit out any of you." There was a gigantic soup- 
tureen, pitchers of grotesque shapes, curious water- 
bottles for travellers to carry at their sides, and every 
sort of cup, of saucer, and tall vases. The material of 
some was black ; of the tureen and most of the larger 
objects yellow ware, painted with quaint pictures of 
beasts and of birds and sometimes of men. 

He bade them see how closely these things resembled 
the pottery dug from the western mounds, which he had 
shown them when they went with him to the Peabody 
Museum in Cambridge ; and, at a nod from him, Tom 
Rising took down the first volume of Bryant's History, 
which is really "Gay's," and which is for young people 
a good history of the United States. Here they found 
pictures of earthenware from the mounds, and the chil- 



128 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1880. 

dren engaged eagerly in comparing them with specimens 
on the table. 

Over the sofa was thrown a great rug, woven or knit 
in black and white wool, and smaller rugs or mats of 
the same size hung over the chairs. 

" Are they from the mounds, Uncle Fritz ? " 

" These are not," said he ; " these are all modern, so 
far as I know. Your mother, Blanche, has just now come 
back from Santa Barbara, and I dare say some of these 
hard-working people sold her some of their rugs. They 
keep up their native industries and sometimes come to 
the stations to sell their work. Through New Mexico and 
Arizona, the road passes quite near to the pueblos, as they 
are called, of these industrious Indians, who, under differ- 
ent names, have always held those valleys. They are 
people who believe in the 'Together.' The necessity of 
uniting to irrigate the land holds them together. They 
live in these houses, two, three, or four stories high, of 
which Mr. Cargill has lent us these pictures." 

And then Uncle Fritz showed them some beautiful 
photographic views of the " pueblos," or villages. 
"Pueblos," which originally means "peoples," is the 
name which the Spaniards of Mexico give to any such 
town. 

" By keeping together in these towns, which are almost 
fortresses, they have defied the roving Indians, like the 
Camanches and the Apaches, since Cortes's day. In- 
deed, the Spaniards found them an even match." 

Then the children found that Col. Ingham had laid 
out for them the original records, which are still rare, 
of the first Spanish explorations. Eager for more gold, 
the viceroy Mendoca sent, as early as 1540, an expe- 
dition to discover this country under Coronado. It was 



1540. FATHER MARCO THE LIAR. 1 29 

a party of three hundred Spaniards with eight hundred 
native Mexicans. 

They were tempted to it by the lying stories of Father 
Marco, who is one of the princes of lying. 

" Four Spaniards, one of whom was a negro, named 
Stephen, had crossed the continent from the Gulf of 
Mexico, after the failure of Narvaez. You will find 
about them in the first volume of the Popular History 
there, Bryant's. Father Marco got hold of the negro, 
and, under his guidance, went north from the then 
settled parts of Mexico. When he came home he told 
a grand rigmarole about these pueblos, which probably 
looked then very much as they look now. 

" Here is a part of his letter in your dear old Hak- 
luyt." 

Blanche read aloud what Uncle Fritz had marked for 
her. 

Thus I travelled three days' journey through towns 
inhabited by the same people, of whom I was received 
as I was of those which I had passed, and came into a 
town of reasonable bigness, called Vacupa, where they 
showed me great courtesies, and gave me great store of 
good victuals, because the soil is very fruitful, and may 
be watered. This town is forty leagues distant from the 
sea, and because I was so far from the sea, it being two 
days before Passion Sunday, I determined to stay there 
until Easter, to inform myself of the islands, whereof I 
said before that I had information ; and so I sent certain 
Indians to the sea by three several ways, whom I com- 
manded to bring me some Indians of the sea-coast and 
some of those islands, that I might receive information 
of them ; and I sent Stephen Dorantez, the negro, 

9 



130 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1540. 

another way, whom I commanded to go directly north- 
ward, fifty or threescore leagues, to see if by that way 
he might learn any news of any notable thing which we 
sought to discover. And I agreed with him that if he 
found any knowledge of any peopled and rich country 
which were of great importance, that he should go no 
farther, but should return in person, or should send me 
certain Indians with that token which we were agreed 
upon, that if it were but a mean thing he should send 
me a white cross one handfull long ; and if it were any 
great matter, one of two handsfull long ; and if it were 
a country greater and better than Nueva Espana, he 
should send me a great cross. So the said Stephen 
departed from me on Passion Sunday after dinner, and 
within four days after the messengers of Stephen re- 
turned unto me with a great cross as high as a man, and 
they brought me word from Stephen that I should forth- 
with come away after him, for he had found people 
which gave him information of a very mighty Province, 
and that he had certain Indians in his company which 
had been in the said Province, and that he had sent me 
one of the said Indians. This Indian told me that it 
was thirty days' journey from the town where Stephen 
was, into the first city of the said Province, which is 
called Cevola. He said also that there are seven great 
cities in this Province, all under one Lord ; the houses 
are made of lime and stone, and are very great ; and 
the least of them with one loft overhead, and some of 
them two and three lofts, and the house of the lord of 
the Province of four, and that all of them joined one 
into the other in good order, and that in the gates of 
the principal houses there are many Turkish stones 
(Turquoise stones) cunningly wrought, whereof he said 



1540. FATHER MARCO'S THREATS. 131 

they had there a great many ; also that the people of 
this city are very well dressed, and that beyond this 
there are other provinces, all which are much greater 
than these seven cities. ... I deferred my departure 
to follow Stephen Dorantez, because I thought he 
would stay for me, and also to attend the return of my 
messengers whom I had sent to the sea, and who re- 
turned to me Easter Day, bringing with them certain 
inhabitants of the sea-coast, and of two of the islands ; 
of whom I understood that the islands mentioned were 
scarce of victuals, as I had learned before, and that they 
are inhabited by people who wear shells of pearls upon 
their foreheads, and they say that they have great pearls 
and much gold. They informed me of thirty-four islands, 
and that they traffic with one another upon rafts. This 
coast stretches northward as is to be seen. These In- 
dians of the coast brought me certain targets made of 
cowhides very well dressed, which were so large that 
they covered them from head to foot, with a hole in the 
top to look out of ; they are so strong that a cross-bow 
(as I suppose) will not pierce them. . . . 

Having considered the former report of the Indians 
and the evil means which I had to prosecute my voyage 
as I desired, I thought it not good to wilfully loose my 
life as Stephen did, and so I told them that God would 
punish those of Cevola, and that the Viceroy, when he 
understood what had happened, would send many Chris- 
tians to chastise them, but they would not believe me, 
for they said that no man was able to withstand the 
power of Cevola ; and herewithal I left them and went 
aside two or three stones east, and when I returned I 
found an Indian of mine which I had brought from 
Mexico, called Marcus, who wept and said to me : 



132 STORIES OF ADVENTURE 1540. 

" Father, these men have consulted to kill us, for they 
say that through your and Stephen's means their fathers 
are slain, and that neither man nor woman of them shall 
remain unslain." Then again I divided among them 
certain other things which I had to appease them, where- 
upon they were somewhat pacified, though they still 
showed great grief for the people which were slain. I 
requested some of them to go to Cevola to see if any 
other Indian had escaped, with intent that they might 
learn news of Stephen, which I could not obtain at their 
hands. When I saw this I said to them that I purposed 
to see the city of Cevola, whatever came of it. They 
said that none of them would go with me. At the last, 
when they saw me resolute, two of the chief of them 
said they would go with me ; with whom and with my 
Indians and interpreters I followed my way till I came 
within sight of Cevola, which is situated on a plain at 
the foot of a round hill, and makes sure to be a fair 
city, and is better situated than any that I have seen in 
those parts. The houses are built in order, according 
as the Indians told me, all made of stone with divers 
stories and flat roofs, as far as I could discern from a 
mountain, whither I ascended to view the city. The 
people are somewhat white, they wear apparel, and lie 
in beds, their weapons are bows, they have emeralds 
and other jewels, although they esteem none so much 
as turquoises, wherewith they adorn the walls of the 
porches of their houses, and their apparel and vessels, 
and they use them instead of money through all the 
country. Their apparel is of cotton and of ox-hides, 
and this is their most commendable and honorable 
apparel. They use vessels of gold and silver, for they 
have no other metal ; whereof there is greater use and 



1540. CEVOLA. 1 33 

more abundance than in Peru, and they buy the same 
for turquoises in the province of the Pintados, where 
there are said to be mines of great abundance. Of 
other kingdoms I could not obtain so particular instruc- 
tion. Divers times I was tempted to go thither, because 
I knew I could but hazard my life, and that I had 
offered unto God the first day that I began my journey ; 
in the end I began to be afraid, considering in what 
danger I should put myself, and that if I should die the 
knowledge of this country should be lost, which in my 
judgment is the greatest and the best that hitherto has 
been discovered ; and when I told the chief men what 
a goodly city Cevola seemed to me, they answered me 
that it was the least of the seven cities, and that Toton- 
teac is the greatest and best of them all, because it has 
so many houses and people that there is no end of 
them. Having seen the disposition and situation of the 
place I thought good to name that country " el nuevo 
regno de San Francisco," in which place I made a 
great heap of stones by the help of the Indians, and 
on the top thereof I set up a small slender cross 
because I wanted means to make a greater, and said 
that I set up that cross and heap in the name of 
the most honorable Lord Don Antonio de Mendoca, 
Viceroy and Captain-General of Nueva Espafia, for 
the emperor our lord, in token of possession, according 
to my instruction ; which possession I said that I took 
in that place of all the seven cities, and of the kingdoms 
of Totonteac, of Acus, and of Marata. Thus I returned 
with much more fear than victuals, and went until I 
found the people which I had left behind me with all 
the speed that I could make, whom I overtook in two 
days' travel, and went in their company till I had passed 



134 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1540. 

the desert, where I was not made so much of as before ; 
for both men and women made great lamentation for 
the people which were slain at Cevola, and with fear I 
hastened from the people of this valley and travelled 
ten leagues the first day, and so I went daily eight or 
ten leagues, without staying until I had passed the 
second desert, and though I was in fear yet I determined 
to go to the great plain, whereof I said before that I 
bad information, being situated at the foot of the moun- 
tains, and in that place I understood that this plain is 
inhabited for many days' journey toward the east, but I 
dared not enter into it, considering that if hereafter we 
should inhabit this other country of the seven cities, 
and the kingdoms before mentioned, that then I might 
better discover the same, without putting myself in 
hazard, and leave it for this time, that I might give rela- 
tion of the things which I had seen. At the entrance 
of this plain I saw but seven towns only of a reasonable 
bigness, which were far off in a low valley, being very 
green and a most fruitful soil, out of which ran many 
rivers. I was informed that there was much gold in 
this valley, and that the inhabitants work it into vessels 
and thin plates, wherewith they strike and take off their 
sweat, and that they were people that will not suffer 
those of the other side of the plain to traffic with them, 
and they could not tell me the cause of it. Here I set 
up two crosses and took possession of the plain and 
valley in like sort and order as I did at other places 
before mentioned ; and from thence I returned on my 
voyage with as much haste as I could make, until I 
came to the city of Saint Michael, in the province of 
Culiacan, thinking there to have found Francis Vazquez 
de Coronado, Governor of Nueva Galicia, and finding 



1540. THE SEVEN CITIES. 135 

him not there I proceeded on my journey till I came to 
the city of Compostella, where I found him. I do not 
write here many other particularities, because they are 
impertinent to this matter ; I only report that which I 
have seen, and which was told me concerning the coun- 
tries through which I travelled, and of those which I 
had information of. 

When Blanche had read so far, Uncle Fritz bade her 
give him the book. 

" You see," he said, " all this talk about the seven 
cities was very exciting to them, because they all had a 
legend about seven cities which had been founded by 
seven Portuguese bishops, ages before. 

"When the Cabots came back to England from their 
first voyage, it was reported that they had found ' the 
seven cities.' And when this lying Father Marco re- 
ported seven cities, Mendoca thought he had found the 
seven cities of the seven bishops. 

" Oddly enough, it seems to prove that these pueblo 
Indians had and have a fancy of building their towns 
in groups of seven. At least, there are two or three 
such instances. 

"On the strength of this report by the Friar, Coronado 
started with his party. They had a long march north- 
ward parallel with the Gulf of California. They came 
out near the Gila River, where you will find ' Casa 
Grande ' on the map. This means ' Great House.' 
It still stands, and they call it Montezuma's house to 
this day. Then Coronado persevered across the desert 
and found the 'seven cities.' They were, doubtless, 
just such pueblos as these you have the pictures of 
now. He was dreadfully disappointed." 



136 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1540. 

And Uncle Fritz bade Horace Feltham read Coro- 
nado's report. 

It remains now to certify your honor of the seven 
cities, and of the kingdoms and provinces whereof the 
provincial father made report to your lordship ; and to 
be brief, he said the truth in nothing that he reported, 
but all was quite contrary, saving only the names of the 
cities, and great houses of stone ; for although they are 
not wrought with turquoises, nor with lime, nor bricks, 
yet they are very excellent good houses of four or five 
lofts high, wherein are good lodgings and fair chambers 
with lathers x instead of stairs, and certain cellars under 
the ground very good and paved, which are made for 
winter, they are like stones ; and the lathers when they 
are high for their houses are in a manner movable and 
portable, which are taken away and set down where 
they please, and they are made of two pieces of wood 
with their stepps, as ours are. The seven cities are 
seven small towns, all made with these kind of houses 
that I speak of, and they stand all within four leagues 
together, and they are all called the kingdom of Civola, 2 
and every one of them have their particular name, and 
none of them is called Civola, but altogether are called 
Civola ; and this town which I call a city I have named 
Granada, as well because it is somewhat like it, and 
also in remembrance of your lordship. In this town 
where I now remain there may be some two hundred 
houses, all compassed with walls, and I think that with 

1 Old English spelling for ladders. Observe the word " lath " hidden in 
"lathers." 

2 The Civola of Hakluyt is the Cibola and Cevola of the other writers. 
The change between b and v is not unfrequent 



1540. TRUTH FOR FICTION. 1 37 

the rest of the houses which are not walled, there may 
be altogether five hundred. There is another town 
near this, which is one of the seven, and is somewhat 
larger than this, and another as large, and the other 
four are somewhat less, and I send them all painted to 
your lordship with the voyage ; and the parchment 
wherein the picture is was found here with other parch- 
ments. The people of this town seem to me of a rea- 
sonable stature and witty, yet they seem not to be such 
as they ought, of that judgment and wit to build these 
houses such as they are. For the most part they are 
naked, except their private parts which are covered ; 
and they have painted mantles like those which I send 
to your lordship. They have no cotton wool growing 
because the country is cold, yet they wear mantles, as 
your honor may see by the show thereof, and yet it is 
true that there was found in their houses certain yarn 
made of cotton wool. They wear their hair on their 
heads like those of Mexico, and they are well nurtured 
and conditioned, and they have a good quantity of tur- 
quoises, which with the rest of the goods which they 
had, except their corn, they had conveyed away before 
I came thither ; for I found no women there, nor no 
youth under fifteen years old, nor no old folks above 
sixty, saving two or three old folks, who stayed behind 
to govern all the rest of the youth and men of war. 
There were found in a certain paper two points of em- 
eralds and certain small stones broken which are in 
color somewhat like very bad granates, and other stones 
of crystal, which I gave one of my servants to lay up to 
send them to your lordship, and he lost them, as he told 
me. We found here guinea cocks, but few. The In- 
dians tell me in all these seven cities that they do not 



I38 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1540. 

eat them, but they keep them only for their feathers. 
I do not believe them, for they are excellently good, and 
larger than those of Mexico. The season of this country 
and the temperature of the air is like that of Mexico, 
for sometimes it is hot and it rains, but hitherto I never 
saw it rain, but once there fell a little shower with wind, 
as they are wont to fall in Spain. The snow and cold 
are wont to be great, as the inhabitants of the country 
say, and it is very likely to be so, both in respect to the 
manner of the country and by the fashion of their 
houses, and their fires and other things which this 
people have to protect them from the cold. There is 
no kind of fruit nor fruit trees. The country is all plain, 
and is on no side mountainous, albeit there are some 
hills and bad passages. There are small stores of fowl : 
the cause is the cold, and because the mountains are 
not near. There is no great store of wood, because they 
have sufficient wood for their fuel four leagues off in a 
wood of small cedars. There is most excellent grass 
within a quarter of a league, for our horses, as well to 
feed them in pasture, as to mow and make hay, whereof 
we stood in great need, because our horses came hither 
so weak and feeble. The victuals which the people of 
this country have is maize, whereof they have a great 
store, and also small white peas and venison, which by 
all likelihood they feed upon (though they say no) for 
we found many skins of deer, of hares, and of conies. 
They eat the best cakes that I ever saw, and everybody 
generally eats them. They have the finest order and 
way to grind that we ever saw in any place ; and one 
Indian woman of this country will grind as much as 
four women of Mexico. They have most excellent salt 
in kernel, which they fetch from a certain lake a day's 



i SAO. GAME AND SKINS. 1 39 

journey from here. They have no knowledge of the 
North Sea, nor of the Western Sea, neither can I tell 
to which we be nearest. But in reason they should 
seem to be nearest to the Western Sea, and at the least 
I think I am an hundred and fifty leagues from thence, 
and the Northern Sea should be much farther off. 
Your lordship may see how broad the land is here. 
Here are many sorts of beasts, bears, tigers, lions, por- 
cupines, and certain sheep as big as an horse, with very 
great horns and little tails. I have seen their horns so 
big that it is a wonder to see their greatness. Here are 
also wild goats, whose beards likewise I have seen, and 
the paws of bears and the skins of wild boars. There 
is game of deer, ounces, and very large stags, and all 
men are of opinion that there are some bigger than 
that beast which your lordship bestowed upon me, 
which once belonged to John Melaz. They travel eight 
days' journey into certain plains lying toward the North 
Sea. In this country there are certain skins well 
dressed, and they dress them and paint them where 
they kill their oxen, so they say themselves. 

"The salt," said Uncle Fritz, "was from the great 
Salt Lake, or some place near it. As for the cakes, see 
what Lieut. Bourke writes to me. He is in our army 
now, and has lived among the Moquis, who, as he 
thinks, still inhabit the towns which Coronado called 
' Cibola.' " 

And Fergus read from Lieut. Bourke's letter : — 

"The Moquis still make very good cakes and still 
use the stone ' metals ' for grinding corn and seeds as 
their ancestors did in 1541. Their meal is reddish and 



140 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1874. 

purplish in color, and the bread or cake is baked as a 
thin sheet, thinner than pie-crust, and afterwards rolled 
into the shape of a banana. When I visited them with 
General Crook in 1874, they used, besides corn, grass- 
seeds, acorns, and the seeds of sunflowers, which they 
cultivated in large fields." 



VII. 
THE JESUIT RELATIONS. 

WHEN the children met Col. Ingham the next 
week, Fergus said that as they came out he had 
been telling the others that he had always wished that 
people would tell more of the beginnings of America. 
" To tell the truth," said Fergus, " I had supposed they 
did not know ; but when we made our camp on the 
Maguadavik River last summer, when I really felt as if 
we were the first settlers in a wilderness, I wondered 
very much whether John Smith did just that thing at 
Jamestown, or whether he began in some other way." 

" We may as well confess," said Col. Ingham, " that 
our people here were very reticent ; also, they seem to 
have had very little paper, very few pens, and almost 
no ink. My mother used to say that they must have 
taken solemn oaths that they would record nothing 
interesting ; and when you do find a bright bit of early 
New England narrative, it is because some faithful 
' modern ' has gone over a dozen old stories and picked 
out one plum here and one there, and put them all 
into one cake for you. 

" But there do exist narratives that go into just the 
sort of detail you ask for, Fergus. Fortunately for us, 
the Jesuit fathers, who were the special literary men of 
their time, were obliged to write letters home from the 



142 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1636. 

points where they were at work, and more fortunately 
the Society of Jesuits found it advisable to print them. 
Within a few years past these narratives have been trans- 
lated and printed in this country. You will find them in 
the best of the large Public Libraries. You will find that 
some of them come very near your own homes." 

" Does not Mr. Parkman quote them ? " 

" Yes, and his skilful use of them and other materials 
like them is what makes his books so fascinating for 
you boys. Here is a story of a poor fellow who tried 
the hospitality of the Six Nations, — the French, you 
know, called them ' Iroquois.' " 

" Why, we rode out to see them from Syracuse, when 
I made my famous visit to Grace." 

"The same. See how they would have treated you a 
hundred and fifty years ago had you been a French girl. 

" Father Isaac Jogues was born of good family in the 
city of Orleans, France. He was sent out into New 
France in the year 1636, and was attached to the 
Mission among the Hurons, where he stayed for six 
years. At the end of this time he was sent to Quebec 
on some of the business connected with the Mission 
there. The following is his own narrative." 

FATHER JOGUES'S STORY. 

The Superior of the Huron Mission sent for me and 
proposed to me a journey to Quebec, — a terrible jour- 
ney on account of the difficulty of the travelling there 
and back, and also because of the ambuscades of Iro- 
quois, who murder many of the Indians friendly to the 
French. 



1636. AN ENCOUNTER. 1 43 

This was merely a proposition, not in any way a com- 
mand, but I accepted eagerly in spite of all the dangers 
and hazards. We started off then and began our jour- 
ney and our dangerous adventures at the same time. 

The distance was three hundred leagues, and in this 
distance we had to make forty carriages of our boats 
and all our baggage around rapids and waterfalls. Al- 
though the Indians were very expert in this method of 
travelling, we experienced several little shipwrecks which 
were attended with loss of our baggage and danger to 
our lives. But at last, after thirty-five days' hard travel, 
we reached Three Rivers, from which place we de- 
scended to Quebec. We finished our business at 
Quebec in a fortnight, and on the first clay of August, 
1642, we started from Three Rivers on our homeward 
voyage. We had passed the first day and night and 
were proceeding quietly on the second morning when 
some of the men in the first canoe shouted to us that 
they had seen some footprints on shore. We all landed 
and examined the tracks they had seen. We could not 
agree as to what they were. Some said Iroquois, and 
others said that they were Algonquins, friends of ours. 
But Eustace Ahatsistari said : — 

"Algonquins or Iroquois it matters little ; there are 
not more of them than there are of us, so let us go on 
without fear." Eustace was our captain, and all the 
rest deferred to him both because of his feats of arms 
and for his prudence and goodness. 

So we went onward, up the river; but we had scarcely 
got on half a league when a volley of arquebuse balls 
came upon us from an ambuscade on shore. The 
Hurons, for the most part, were so frightened at the 
noise that they abandoned their canoes and their arms 



144 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1636. 

and fled into the depths of the woods. Otherwise the 
discharge did us small harm, for only one Huron was 
wounded, and he but slightly in his hand. 

There were four of us Frenchmen, one of whom had 
escaped with the Hurons, and eight or ten Christian 
Indians, and together we made such head against the 
enemy that, although it was thirty to ten or a dozen, the 
issue would have been doubtful had not another band 
of forty Iroquois, who were hiding on the other side of 
the river, opened fire upon us. 

Upon this the Hurons lost courage, and those who 
could fled, abandoning their comrades to the enemy. 
One Frenchman, Rene Goupil, being left alone, was 
surrounded and captured, together with some of the 
brave Hurons. I also was taken and so was our brave 
Captain Eustace. One other Frenchman who had been 
captured, seeing an opportunity, escaped, but suddenly 
the thought coming to him that he was abandoning his 
Faith and his comrades, he stopped short and deter- 
mined to come back to us. But as he turned he saw 
five of the Iroquois rushing up to him. One of them 
aimed his arquebuse at him but missed. The French- 
man's piece did not miss, and the Indian fell back stone- 
dead. As soon as he had fired the other four Indians 
threw themselves upon him with the madness of lions, 
or rather of devils. They beat him with clubs, they bit 
him with their teeth, the}'' tore him with their nails and 
transfixed him with their swords. As I approached him 
to give him some comfort they fell upon me also and 
used me badly. In fact, so enraged were they against 
the French that they cruelly tortured Rene' Goupil and 
me also, biting our fingers with their teeth in a terrible 
manner and beating us with sticks. 



1636. THE IROQUOIS REINFORCED. 145 

Finally they all came together again. Those who 
had been chasing the Hurons returned, and they began 
all together to rejoice over their prey with loud shouts 
of joy. 

We started, then, to be conducted into a strange 
country. One old man refused to embark when the 
Iroquois took to their boats, and the Indians murdered 
him. There were twenty-two of us in all. For the 
thirteen days which were taken up in the journey I 
suffered almost insupportable bodily tortures and men- 
tal distresses beyond comparison. Hunger, the glowing 
heat, the threats and hatred of these leopards, the pain 
of our wounds, — all these were nothing to the inward 
grief that I felt at the thought of our Hurons, all firm 
Christians. I had thought that they would have been 
the support of this growing Church, and I saw them con- 
demned to death. 

A week after we left the banks of the great River St. 
Lawrence we fell in with two hundred Iroquois who 
had just returned from an excursion against the French 
and their Indian allies. As soon as they saw us they 
thanked the Sun for having put us in their power, and 
immediately afterward fired a volley from their arque- 
buses as a salute to the victors. They then sought out 
a level plain upon the hill and then went to find clubs 
and thorny sticks. Thus armed they placed themselves 
in two rows, one hundred on one side and one hundred 
on the other, and having stripped us of our clothing 
they forced us to pass through this path of pain and 
anguish. As we ran by they delivered lusty blows upon 
our backs with all their strength. They made me run 
last that I might be the more exposed to their rage. I 
had hardly run half-way when I fell to the ground from 



146 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1636. 

the pain and from the blows. Seeing this the Indians 
redoubled their efforts. I was unable to force myself to 
rise, partly through my weakness and partly because I 
thought I might as well die there. Seeing me fall they 
threw themselves upon me, and God alone knows how 
long they beat me. But when they saw that I had not 
fallen by accident and that I was really too near death 
to arise, since their anger was not yet appeased, and 
also because they wished to carry me alive into their 
own country, they picked me up and carried me, all 
bleeding, out of the torture, but soon began again to 
ill-treat me. It would take too long to tell of the suffer- 
ings they inflicted upon me. They broke one of my 
fingers, they crushed the others with their teeth, and 
also tore my flesh by their nails, With the rage of 
demons, and when my strength failed me they applied 
fire to my arms and legs. They treated my companions 
in like manner. Among the Hurons the brave and 
valiant christian, Eustace, was treated most cruelly. 

These warriors having offered up a sacrifice of our 
blood pursued their way, and we went ours. On the 
tenth day after our departure we arrived at a place 
where we quitted our boats to march on land. This 
part of the journey was very painful. The Iroquois 
who had charge of me, having more baggage than he 
could carry easily, placed a heavy load upon my own 
back, torn and mangled as it was. For three days we 
ate nothing but berries which we picked as we went 
along. The heat of the day, at the hottest part of the 
summer, and the pain of our wounds weakened us so 
that we had to march behind the rest. One night when 
we were a little way from the others I suggested to 
Rene' Goupil that he should escape. In fact we might 



1636. SUFFERINGS OF THE CAFTIFES. 1 47 

have done it, but for my part I would rather have 
suffered all kinds of torment than have abandoned 
those whom I might have been able to console. Rene, 
seeing that I wished to follow my little flock, would not 
quit me. " I will die with you," said he, " and I will 
never abandon you." 

One night we arrived at a little river distant about a 
quarter of a league from the first village of the Iroquois. 
We found on the banks an assemblage of men and boys 
armed with sticks with which they beat us with their 
usual cruelty. I had on my hands but two finger-nails 
left. These they tore off with their teeth, cutting the 
flesh to the bone with their own long finger-nails. 

After they had satisfied their cruelty they carried us 
in triumph into the first village, where all the young 
people were without the gates ranged in rows, armed 
with sticks, some of them with iron tips which they got 
from the Dutch. We had to march around among 
those young people and receive beatings and torturings 
like those I have described to you. When night had 
come they brought us to the cabins to be sport for the 
children. They gave us a little Indian meal boiled in 
water. They made us lie down, binding us, hand and 
foot, to four posts stuck in the ground, in the form of a 
Saint Andrew's Cross. The children, to teach further 
cruelty to their parents, threw live coals and hot ashes 
upon our stomachs, taking pleasure in seeing our flesh 
grill and blacken. O God ! what a night ! To remain 
in a very constrained position without the power of 
moving, to be unable to defend ourselves from the attack 
of the thousands of vermin which assailed us from every 
side, to be still suffering from recent wounds, to have 
nothing on which to sustain life, — in truth, these are 



148 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1636. 

grave torments, but God is over all. At sunrise they 
carried us out again, and for three days and three 
nights we endured tortures which I have been trying to 
describe. 

We passed in this way through these villages, and in 
each village we were beaten and tortured terribly. 
Finally they allowed us to settle down and try to cure 
our wounds. 

When these poor captives had got back a little of 
their strength, the chiefs of the country began to talk 
of sending them back to Three Rivers to return them 
to the French. The business went so far that they con- 
sidered that it was all arranged ; but finally the chiefs 
found that they could not agree as to the terms, and so 
the Father and his companions were left as before, in 
the fear each moment that they would be put to death. 

These barbarians have the custom of giving the pris- 
oners, whom they do not wish to put to death, to those 
families who have lost some of their number in war. 
These persons take the place of the dead and become 
members of the family, which alone holds the power of 
life and death over them. In such cases no one else 
dares to do anything to them ; but when they keep some 
one as public prisoner, without giving him to any one in 
particular, the poor man is at all times in danger of 
instant death. If some wretch kills him, no one cares. 
He is only enabled to drag on his miserable life through 
the charity of those who take pity on him. In such a 
condition was our good Father, and so also was one of 
his companions. The other Frenchmen had been given 
to a family in place of an Iroquois warrior who had 
fallen in battle. . . . 



1636. IN CAPTIVITY. 149 

The Father's narrative goes on : — 

I left the village in which I was held captive, on Saint 
Ignatius' day, to go with some Iroquois on an excursion 
for trading and fishing. After we had finished our 
business with the Dutch we set to fishing at a place on 
the river seven or eight leagues below the Dutch village. 
While we were cleaning the fish we had caught, there 
came a report that a band of Iroquois had returned 
from an expedition against the Hurons, of whom they 
had killed five or six and captured four. Of these four 
prisoners they had burned two in my village with great 
cruelties. At this my heart was weighed down with a 
bitter regret that I had neither been able to see these 
poor victims nor to console and baptize them. I feared 
too that something of the sort might happen again, and 
I therefore went to an old woman who had been very 
kind to me and said to her : — 

" My aunt, I wish to return to our village. I cannot 
stay here. It is not that I expect to be treated more 
kindly at the village, where indeed I am daily exposed 
to every species of torture and am compelled to be wit- 
ness of most horrible cruelties, but my heart tells me 
that I should allow no man to suffer death without en- 
deavoring to offer him baptism." 

She approved of my words and gave me something 
to eat on the road. I embarked in the first canoe that 
was going up the river to our village, accompanied and 
conducted by five or six Iroquois. When we had 
reached the Dutch on the river, I learned that our vil- 
lage was much incensed against all the French, and that 
they only awaited my return in order to burn me alive. 

The cause of this was as follows. Some time ago, 
among all the bands of Iroquois who were continually 



150 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1636. 

going upon the war-path against the Algonquins, the 
Hurons, and the French, there was one band which 
took the idea of going to spy out the French and their 
savage allies. Among this band was a Huron who had 
been captured by the Iroquois and had been adopted 
into the tribe. This man came to me to ask if I had 
any letters to send to the French, hoping no doubt to 
get some information in this way. But as I did not 
doubt that the French would be upon their guard 
against. him, and moreover as I thought it very neces- 
sary that the French should know something of the 
plans and designs of their enemies, I found means of 
procuring a bit of paper upon which to write a message. 
I knew very well the danger to which I exposed myself, 
and I knew too that if anything should happen to these 
warriors the blame would fall upon me ; that they would 
hold me responsible and would accuse my letters. I 
foresaw that I should be put to death, but death seemed 
to me easy and agreeable when I reflected that it would 
be used for the well-being and consolation of the French, 
and the poor Indians who learn from them the word of 
the Lord. I gave, then, my letter to the young warrior, 
who never returned. The story that his comrades 
brought back was that he had carried the letter to the 
fort of Richelieu, and that as soon as the French had 
caught sight of them they had fired a cannon at them 
so that they had fled, scattering in all directions, leaving 
one of their canoes, together with their guns and 
powder and ball and some other baggage. 

When these news were brought to the village they 
cried out that my letters were the cause of this treat- 
ment. The report went around and at last came to my 
ears ; they reproached me with their bad luck and 



1636. MEANS OF ESCAPE OFFERED. I 5 I 

spoke of nothing but burning me, and if I had been at 
the village at the return of the warriors, fire, rage, and 
cruelty would have cost me my life. Unhappily another 
band returning from Montreal, where they had been 
beaten by the French, told of one of their men who 
had been killed and two who were wounded. Every- 
body considered me the cause of this ill-luck and was 
awaiting my return with impatience. 

To resume my story. The Captain of the post of 
Dutch, where we were at this time, knowing pretty well 
the state of the Indians' mind toward me, and knowing 
too that the Chevalier de Montmagny had forbidden 
the Indians of New France to make any attacks upon 
the Dutch, showed me the means of saving myself. 
" Here," said he to me, "here is a ship at anchor which 
is to sail in a few days. Get into it quietly. It is 
going first to Virginia and then to Bordeaux or La 
Rochelle." 

I thanked him much for the offer, but told him the 
Indians would surely find out that he had assisted me 
to escape and might cause his people some trouble. 

"No, no," said he, "fear nothing, get on board. The 
chance is good, you will never find a better one." 

I was perplexed at his words, doubting whether it 
would not redound more to the glory of God if I should 
expose myself to the danger of fire and to the fury of 
the Iroquois, with the hope of saving some poor soul. 
I said then to him that I held the occasion to be of 
such importance that I could not immediately come to 
a decision, and I begged of him to give me the night to 
think it over. He was much astonished, but granted my 
request, and I promised to tell him on the next morn- 
ing: what resolve I had come to. 



152 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1636. 

I spent the night in meditation and prayer, and came 
at last to the conclusion that it M'ould be more agree- 
able to God if I should take this chance which was 
offered me to escape. 

When day was come, therefore, I paid my respects to 
the Dutch Governor and told him my thoughts and the 
resolution to which I had come. He called the owners 
of the vessel and told them his plan, begging them to 
receive and hide me, and, in a word, to carry me back 
to Europe. They replied that if I could once set foot 
on the deck of the vessel I might be sure that I should 
not leave it until I landed at the wharf at Bordeaux or 
La Rochelle. 

"Very well, then," said the Governor to me, "return 
with your Indians, and towards evening or at night 
come quietly to the river. You will find a little boat 
which I shall have placed there that you may go secretly 
to the ship." 

After giving my humble thanks to these gentlemen 
I went away from the Hollanders that I might the 
better conceal my plan. At night I retired with ten or 
a dozen Iroquois into a barn where we were to pass the 
night. Before lying down I went out of the place to 
see how I might most easily escape. The dogs of the 
Hollanders, who were roaming about, seeing me come 
out, fell upon me. One of them bit a large piece out of 
my leg, which gave me such pain that I returned as soon 
as possible into the barn. The Iroquois immediately 
shut the door tightly and lay down round about me. 
There was one of them whose duty it was to take 
especial care in guarding me, and he lay down in front 
of the door of the barn. 

Seeing myself shut up in this way I feared that I 



1636. CONCEALED IN THE SHIP. 1 53 

might never be able to escape. I passed all this night 
without sleep, and in the morning I heard the crowing 
of the cocks. Soon after, the servant of a Dutch work- 
man, who had given us shelter in his barn, entered by 
some door, I know not what. I made him a sign softly, 
since I did not understand Flemish, to drive away the 
dogs. He went out and I after him, taking all my bag- 
gage, namely, a breviary and a crucifix. As soon as I got 
out of the barn, without making any noise or awakening 
my guards, I passed through the gate in the fence sur- 
rounding the farm and ran straight to the river in which 
the ship was at anchor. In doing this I had great diffi- 
culty, on account of my wounded leg, but finally accom- 
plished the distance, and found the boat, as the captain 
had told me. But unfortunately the tide had gone down, 
and the boat was high and dry on land. I could not 
push it into the water on account of its weight, and so I 
shouted out to the ship. I do not know whether they 
heard me or not ; at any rate, nobody appeared. 

The sun was by this time rising and would soon ap- 
prise the Iroquois of the theft of myself which I had 
made. Fearing that they would find me engaged in my 
innocent amusement I left off shouting, and, praying God 
to increase my strength, I applied myself once more to 
the boat. I did so well that I soon got the stern in the 
water and after that the rest of it. Having got it afloat, 
I jumped into it, and rowed quickly to the ship without 
being perceived by any of the Iroquois. 

The sailors put me down in the hold to hide me, and 
I passed two days in the ship in such an uncomfortable 
manner that I feared each minute that I should die of 
suffocation. I remembered in this plight the story of 
Jonas in the belly of the whale. 



154 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1636. 

On the second night of my captivity the Dutch min- 
ister visited me to tell me that the Iroquois were making 
a great disturbance about my disappearance, and that 
the Hollanders living around were afraid that they 
would burn down their houses and kill their beasts. 
They had good ground for this fear, for the Indians were 
provided with good arquebuses. I besought him to give 
me up to them if on account of me all this tumult was 
arising, and told him that I never had wished to save 
myself at the risk of others' lives and goods. 

Finally I came up from my hiding-place, and though 
the. sailors were much ashamed, saying that they had 
given their word that I should be saved and that they 
must hold to it at all costs, I went on shore to the Gov- 
ernor's house, where they concealed me. These goings 
and comings were achieved in the night so that I was 
not discovered. The Dutch Captain told me that it 
was necessary to yield to the storm and wait until the 
spirits of the Indians were a little calmed. So I am 
now a voluntary prisoner in the house of the Governor. 
The ship in which I was to sail has gone without me. 

In another letter : — 

Finally I am delivered. The Lord has sent one of 
his angels to take me out of captivity. The Iroquois 
have finally become pacified by the Dutch Governor, 
who gave them presents as a ransom to the amount, I 
believe, of three hundred livres, which I must return to 
him. When everything was straightened out I was sent 
to Manhattan, where the Governor of the whole country 
resides. He received me kindly, gave me a suit of 
clothes, and sent me across the ocean in a bark. We 
landed in Falmouth in England, and from thence I 
crossed over to France. 



1689-90. MASSACRE AT SCHENECTADY. 1 55 

" Poor man!" said Laura, when the reading was done. 
" I do not wonder the frontier's people came to hate 
the Indians." 

"It is worth while," said Uncle Fritz, "when you 
hear people talk of Arcadian homes and the simplicity 
of nature to know what those words mean." 

The Pictorial History is generally lying on the table, 
or brought out before these American readings are fin- 
ished ; and Tom had the third volume open at the 
picture of the massacre at Schenectady, where two 
snow sentinels stood at the gateway of the palisades, 
and made no opposition to the French and Indians 
when they rushed in. 

"This was long after Father Jogues, I suppose," he 
said. 

" Oh, yes. The massacre did not happen until Leis- 
ler's time, in the winter of 16S9-90; and, by the way, 
one of the most vivid of the genuine American ballads 
was printed in Albany then and there about that mas- 
sacre." 

" Where do you find about it, Uncle Fritz ? " 

" Oh, there is no local history better provided for than 
that of New York. Look there, on the lower shelf ; 
there are twelve volumes of their documents which you 
owe to Mr. Bogart's kindness." 

The children had learned by this time not to dread a 
book because it was big and had a dull name, and 
the various tables soon had different groups dipping 
through the big volumes. Letters of priests ; letters of 
Indians, with their marks in place of signatures ; quar- 
rels of governors with their people ; the awful tragedy 
when Leisler was executed ; Captain Kidd and all his 
history, — unfolded themselves in the manner in which 



156 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1614-1775. 

they were written down at the time ; buried for a hun~ 
dred years and more in archive-rooms, and then brought 
to light again. The children read a scrap here and a 
scrap there with fearful violation of chronology, but 
gaining just the " color " for the history which letters 
written at the time give, and which nothing else gives. 
Nothing is more surprising to young readers than to see 
how very small were the beginnings of an American 
State. Through the period of the century between 
Father Jogues and 1736 the whole population of the 
State of New York was a mere handful, Schenectady a 
frontier town, and Albany an insignificant fort. 

The young people were surprised when the bell rang 
for tea. Hester confessed, as she walked out with 
Uncle Fritz, that there had been times when she should 
not have thought that she could have found half an 
hour's amusement in reading old documents. " I owe 
that to you, Uncle Fritz," she said prettily. 

" Perhaps I have taught you how to skip," he said. 
" That is one of the greatest of accomplishments." 

Here are two verses of the old ballad : — 

" From forth the woods of Canada 
The Frenchmen tooke their Way 
The People of Schenectady 
To captivate and slay. 

" They march'd for two & twenty Dais 
All through the deepest Snow ; 
And on a dismal Winter Night 
They strucke the Cruel Blow." 



VIII. 

NORTHERN DISCOVERIES. 

ON New Year's Day, after the children had given 
their pretty presents to Uncle Fritz, and after he 
had shown them his New Year's cards and other greet- 
ings, he asked if they had brought anything to read. 

" We are all alive about the Indians," said Laura. 
" We have seen Miss La Flesche, who is lovely, and 
we have heard her talk Indian. She never would have 
roasted Father Jogues by a slow fire. Is she the same 
sort as the Iroquois ? " 

Uncle Fritz sent for the second volume of the Arch- 
asologia Americana, and showed them Mr. Gallatin's 
map of the United States, and the division of it into 
nine great Indian families. Fergus said the map was 
copied in a volume of Bancroft's History. The children 
saw that the Massachusetts Indians are Algonkins, or, 
as Mr. Gallatin says, Algonkin-Lenape. The Iroquois, 
who were so cruel to the poor Jesuit Father, are of 
another race. 

" I am glad," said Blanche, " that it was no cousin of 
my nice Waban who did such awful things." 

Blanche lives on Waban Street, though the sign- 
painters spell it Wabon. 

Uncle Fritz said grimly that he was glad Blanche 
knew he was "nice." The children saw that the Algon- 



158 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1881. 

kin family covered most of the United States north of 
the Gulf States and east of the Mississippi, excepting 
New York and most of Pennsylvania, where were Iro- 
quois tribes ; and that there were Iroquois tribes west 
of the Niagara in the peninsula of Canada. They saw 
that the Algonkins extended lar north, half up the side 
of Hudson's Bay. 

" But, you know," said Uncle Fritz, " that they are 
all great wanderers. You may catch a bit of dialect 
thousands of miles off from the tribe where you first 
found it. When Mr. Bartlett was on the frontier of 
Mexico, he happened to notice a sort of 'click,' like 
the Zulu ■ click,' in the language of the Apaches, the 
roving horsemen of those regions. Mr. Bartlett is a 
very accurate linguist, and he remembered that Dr. 
Richardson said of the Athapescans on the Arctic 
Ocean that they had such a ' click.' He looked in 
their vocabularies, and he found they used some of the 
same words the Apaches did. These Apaches had 
strayed away from them, nobody knows when." 

" Apache sounds like Athapescan," said Fergus ; and 
Uncle Fritz nodded approval of the bold etymology. 

" Well, then," said Tom Rising, " I suppose any of 
these people painted yellow on the map, these Chip- 
peways and the rest, can read your Eliot's Bible, Uncle 
Fritz}' 

"No, my boy, that is asking too much. For the 
Massachusetts dialect and Eliot's spelling of it are now 
two hundred years old, and probably always our Indians 
differed from the Hudson's Bay Indians, for instance, 
as much as Italians from Frenchmen. Still Eliot's 
grammar and dictionary are useful now to the mission- 
aries among any Algonkin tribes." 



iSSi. THE INDIAN FOR "MAN" 159 

The children began comparing words in the vocabu- 
lary in Mr. Gallatin's book, and trying to learn them. 
Here is the Indian for "man," from one language of each 
of the nine great Eastern races. Mr. Gallatin gives 
specimens of forty-four languages, which are all grouped 
under these nine divisions : — 

Man in a language of 



Eskimaux 


is 


Tuak. 


Atliapescans 


is 


Tennee. 


A Igonkins 


is 


WOSKETOMP. 



And, among Algonkins, the children took the Massa- 
chusetts language, so as to know what Blanche's "nice" 
Waban said. 



Iroquois 


is 


Unguoh. 


Sioux 


is 


WONGAHAH. 


Catawbas 


is 


Yabrecha. 


Cherokccs 


is 


ASKAYA. 


Choctaws 


is 


HOTTOK NOKNI 


Muskhogees 


is 


ISTAHOUANUAH 



The Pawnees, west of these divisions, called " man " 
Tsaeksh. 

u And now," said Uncle Fritz, who had been looking 
among his Arctic books, " if you want to find about 
your nice Algonkins of Hudson's Bay and their neigh- 
bors, look at my marks in Hearne's Travels here." 

" I remember in an old atlas the Arctic Ocean was 
marked ' Sea seen by Mr. Hearne.' " 

"This is that man. On the night between July 17 
and July 18, 177 1, while your grandfather, Tom, was 
discussing with other assembly-men here in Boston, how 
they should circumvent Gov. Hutchinson, Hearne, by 
the light of a sun which was above the horizon, was 



l6o STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1771. 

making the drawing from which this map which I 
showed you was made. And I am sorry to say your 
' nice ' Algonkins, who were with him, were destroying 
some tents they found of Northern Indians. 

" Now you will find some curious things in Hearne's 
book." 

And the children followed Uncle Fritz's book-marks 
and read these passages : — 

When on the northwest side of Seal River I asked 
Captain Chawchinahaw the distance and probable time 
it would take before we could reach the main woods, 
which he assured me would not exceed four or five 
days' journey. This put both me and my companions 
in good spirits, and we continued our course between 
the west by north and northwest, in daily expectation of 
arriving at those woods, which we were told would fur- 
nish us with everything the country affords. These 
accounts were so far from being true that, after we had 
walked double the time here mentioned, no signs of 
woods were to be seen in the direction we were then 
steering, but we had frequently seen the looming of 
woods to the southwest. 

The cold being now very intense, our small stock of 
English provisions all expended, and not the least thing 
to be got on the bleak hills, we had for some time been 
walking on ; it became necessary to strike more to the 
westward, which we accordingly did, and the next 
evening arrived at some small patches of low, scrubby 
woods, where we saw the tracks of several deer and 
killed a few partridges. The road we had traversed for 
many days before was in general so rough and stony 
that our sledges were daily breaking, and to add to the 



1 77 1- NORTHERN DISCOVERIES. l6l 

inconveniency the land was so barren as not to afford 
us materials for repairing them ; but the few woods we 
now fell in with amply supplied us with necessaries for 
those repairs, and as we were then enabled each night 
to pitch proper tents, our lodging was much more com- 
fortable than it had been for many nights before while 
we were on the barren grounds, where, in general, we 
thought ourselves well off if we could scrape together as 
many shrubs as would make a fire. But it was scarcely 
ever in our power to make any other defence against 
the weather than by digging a hole in the snow down 
to the moss, wrapping ourselves up in our clothing and 
lying down in it, with our sledges set up edgeways to 
windward. ... By this time I found that Captain 
Chawchinahaw had not the prosperity of the under- 
taking at heart ; he often painted the difficulties in the 
worst colors, took every method to dishearten me and 
my European companions, and several times hinted his 
desire of our returning back to the factory. But, finding 
I was determined to proceed he took such methods as 
he thought would be most likely to answer his end ; one 
of which was that of not administering toward our sup- 
port, so that we were a considerable time without any 
other subsistence but what our two home-guard Indians 
procured, and the little that I and the two European 
men could kill, which was very disproportionate to our 
wants, as we had to provide for several women and 
children who were with us. Chawchinahaw finding that 
this kind of treatment was not likely to complete his 
design, and that we were not to be starved into com- 
pliance, at length influenced several of the best Northern 
Indians to desert in the night, who took with them sev- 
eral bags of my ammunition, some pieces of iron-work, 

ii 



1 62 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1771. 

such as hatchets, ice-chisels, files, etc., as well as several 
other useful articles. When I became acquainted with 
this piece of villany, I asked Chawchinahaw the reason 
of such behavior. To which he answered that he knew 
nothing of the affair, but as that was the case it would 
not be prudent, he said, for us to proceed any farther, 
adding that he and all the rest of his countrymen were 
going to strike off another way in order to join the 
remainder of their wives and families ; and, after giving 
us a short account of how to steer our course for the 
nearest part of Seal River, which he said would be our 
best way homeward, he and his crew delivered me most 
of the things they had in charge, packed up their awls, 
and set out toward the southwest, making the woods 
ring with laughter, and left us to consider our unhappy 
situation, near two hundred miles from Prince of Wales's 
fort, all heavily laden, and our strength and spirits 
greatly reduced by hunger and fatigue. Our situation 
at that time, though very alarming, would not permit us 
to spend much time in reflection, so we loaded our 
sledges to the best advantage, but were obliged to throw 
away some bags of shot and ball, and immediately set 
out on our return. In the course of the day's walk we 
were fortunate enough to kill several partridges, for 
which we were all very thankful, as it was the first meat 
we had had for several days ; indeed, for the five pre- 
ceding days we had not killed as much as amounted to 
half a partridge for each man, and some days had not a 
single mouthful. While we were in this distress the 
Northern Indians were by no means in want, for as 
they always walked foremost they had ten times the 
chance to kill partridges, rabbits, or any other thing 
which was to be met with than we had. Besides this 





§.mt& 






1? 



rv 



1 771. NORTHERN DISCOVERIES. 1 63 

advantage they had great stocks of flour, oatmeal, and 
other English provisions, which they had embezzled out 
of my stock during the early part of the journey, and 
as one of my home Indians, called Mackachy, and his 
wife, who is a Northern Indian woman, always resorted 
to the Northern Indians' tents, where they got amply 
supplied with provisions when neither I nor my men 
had a single mouthful, I have great reason to suspect 
they had a principal hand in the embezzlement ; indeed, 
both the man and his wife were capable of committing 
any crime, however diabolical. In our course down 
Seal River we met a stranger, a Northern Indian, on a 
hunting excursion, and though he had not met with any 
success that day yet he kindly invited us to his tent, 
saying he had plenty of venison at my service, and told 
the Southern Indians that as there were two or three 
beaver houses near his tent, he should be glad of their 
assistance in taking them, for there was only one man 
with three women at the tent. 

Though we were at that time far from being in want 
of provisions, yet we accepted his offer, and set off with 
our new guide for his tent, which, by a comparative dis- 
tance, he told us, was not above five miles from the 
place where we met him, but we found it to be nearer 
fifteen, so that it was the middle of the night before we 
arrived at it. When we drew near the tent the usual 
signal for the approach of strangers was given by firing 
a gun or two, which was immediately answered by the 
man at the tent. On our arrival at the door the good 
man of the house came out, shook me by the hand, and 
welcomed us to his tent, but as it was too small to con- 
tain us all he ordered his women to assist us in pitching 
our tent, and in the mean time invited me and as many 



1 64 STORIES OF ADVENTURER. 1771. 

of my crew as his little habitation could contain, and 
regaled us with the best in the house. The pipe went 
round pretty briskly, and the conversation naturally 
turned on the treatment we had received from Chaw- 
chinahaw and his gang, which was always answered by 
our host with " Ah ! if I had been there, it should not 
have been so ! " But, notwithstanding his hospitality 
on the present occasion, he would most assuredly have 
acted the same part as the others had done, if he had 
been of the party. . . . 

When the Indians design to impound deer they look 
out for one of the paths in which a number of them 
have trod, and which is observed to be still frequented 
by them. When these paths cross a lake, a wide river, 
or a barren plain, they are found to be much the best 
for the purpose, and if the path run through a cluster 
of woods capable of affording materials for building a 
pound, it adds considerably to the commodiousness of 
the situation. The pou.nd is built by making a strong 
fence with brushy trees, without observing any degree 
of regularity, and the work is continued to any extent, 
according to the pleasure of the builders. I have seen 
some that were not less than a mile round, and am 
informed that there are others still more extensive. 
The door, or entrance of the pound, is not larger than 
a common gate, and the inside is so crowded with small 
counter-hedges as very much to resemble a maze, in 
ever}' opening of which they set a snare, made with 
thongs of parchment deer-skins well twisted together, 
which are amazingly strong. One end of the snare is 
usually made fast to a growing pole, but if no one of a 
sufficient size can be found near the place where the 
snare is to be set, a loose pole is substituted in its room, 



1 77 1- NORTHERN DISCOVERIES. l6$ 

which is always of such size and length that a deer can- 
not drag it far before it gets entangled among the other 
woods, which are all left standing except what is found 
necessary for making the fence, hedges, etc. 

The pound being thus prepared, a row of small brush- 
wood is stuck up in the snow on each side the door 
or entrance, and these hedge-rows are continued along 
the open part of the lake, river, or plain, where neither 
stick nor stump besides is to be seen, which makes 
them the more distinctly observed. These poles, or 
brushwood, are generally placed at the distance of 
fifteen or twenty yards from each other, and ranged in 
such a manner as to form two sides of a long acute 
angle, growing gradually wider in proportion to the dis- 
tance they extend from the entrance of the pound, 
which sometimes is not less than two or three miles ; 
while the deer's path is exactly along the middle, be- 
tween the two rows of brushwood. Indians employed 
on this service always pitch their tent on or near an 
eminence that affords a commanding prospect of the 
path leading to the pound, and when they see any deer 
going that way, men, women, and children walk along 
the lake or riverside under cover of the woods till they 
get behind them, then step forth to open view, and pro- 
ceed towards the pound in the form of a crescent. The 
poor timorous deer, finding themselves pursued and at 
the same time taking the two rows of brushy poles to 
be two ranks of people stationed to prevent their pass- 
ing on either side, run straight forward in the path till 
they get into the pound. The Indians then close in 
and block up the entrance with some bushy trees that 
have been cut down and lie at hand for that purpose. 
The deer being thus enclosed the women and children 



1 66 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1771. 

walk round the pound to prevent them from breaking 
or jumping over the fence, while the men are employed 
spearing such as are entangled in the snares, and shoot- 
ing with bows and arrows those which remain loose in 
the pound. . . . 

Agreeably to my instructions, I smoked my calumet 
of peace with the Copper Indians, who seemed highly 
pleased on the occasion ; and, from a conversation held 
on the subject of my journey, I found they were de- 
lighted with the hopes of having a European settle- 
ment in the neighborhood, and seemed to have no idea 
that any impediment could prevent such a scheme from 
being carried into execution. Climates and seasons had 
no weight with them, nor could they see where the diffi- 
culty lay in getting there ; for though they acknowledged 
that they had never seen the sea at the mouth of the 
Copper River clear of ice, yet they could see nothing 
that should hinder a ship from approaching it, and they 
innocently enough observed that the water was always 
so smooth between the ice and shore that even small 
boats might get there with great ease and safety. How 
a ship was to get between the ice and the shore never 
once occurred to them. 

Whether from hospitality, or from the great advan- 
tages which they expected to reap by my discoveries, I 
know not ; but I must confess that their civility far ex- 
ceeded what I could expect from so uncivilized a tribe, 
and I was exceedingly sorry that I had nothing of value 
to offer them. However, such articles as I had I dis- 
tributed among them, and they were thankfully received 
by them. Though they have some European commodities 
among them, which they purchase from the Northern 
Indians, the same articles from the hands of an English- 



i 7 7l. A CONJURING-HOUSE. 1 67 

man were more prized. As I was the first whom they 
had ever seen, and in all probability might be the last, 
it was curious to see how they flocked about me, and 
expressed as much desire to examine me from top to 
toe as a European naturalist would a nondescript 
animal. They, however, found and pronounced me to 
be a perfect human being, except in the color of my 
hair and eyes ; the former, they said, was like the stained 
hair of a buffalo's tail, and the latter, being light, were 
like those of a gull. The whiteness of my skin also 
was, in their opinion, no ornament, as they said it 
resembled meat which had been sodden in water till all 
the blood was extracted. On the whole, I was viewed 
as so great a curiosity in this part of the world that 
during my stay there, whenever I combed my head, 
some or other of them never failed to ask for the hairs 
that came off, which they carefully wrapped up, saying, 
" When I see you again, you shall see your hair." . . . 

When a friend for whom they have a particular regard 
is, as they suppose, dangerously ill, they have recourse 
to another extraordinary superstition, which is no less 
than that of pretending to swallow hatchets, ice-chisels, 
broad bayonets, knives, and the like, out of a super- 
stitious notion that undertaking such desperate feats 
will have some influence in appeasing death, and pro- 
cure a respite for their patient. On such extraordinary 
occasions a conjuring-house is erected, by driving the 
ends of four long small sticks, or poles, into the ground 
at right angles, so as to form a square of four, five, six, 
or seven feet, as may be required. The tops of the 
poles are tied together, and all is close covered with a 
tent-cloth or other skin, exactly in the shape of a small 
square tent, except that there is no vacancy left at the 



1 68 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1771. 

top to admit the light. In the middle of this tern the 
patient is laid, and is soon followed by the conjuror or 
conjurors. Sometimes five or six of them give their 
joint assistance, but before they enter they strip them- 
selves quite naked, and as soon as they get into the 
house, the door being well closed, they kneel round the 
sick person and begin to blow at the parts affected, and 
then in a very short space of time sing and talk as if 
conversing with familiar spirits, which they say appear 
to them in the shape of different beasts and birds of 
prey. When they have had sufficient conference with 
those necessary agents, or shadows, as they term them, 
they ask for the hatchet, bayonet, or the like, which is 
always prepared by another person with a long string 
fastened to it by the haft, for the convenience of hauling 
it up again after they have swallowed it, for they very 
wisely admit this to be a necessary precaution, as hard 
and compact bodies, such as iron and steel, would be 
very hard to digest, even by the men who are enabled 
to swallow them. Besides, as those tools are in them- 
selves very useful, and not always to be procured, it 
would be very ungenerous in the conjurers to digest 
them, when it is known that barely swallowing them 
and hauling them up again is fully sufficient to answer 
every purpose that is expected from them. 

At the time when the forty and odd tents of Indians 
joined us, one man was so dangerously ill, that it was 
thought necessary the conjurers should use some of 
those wonderful experiments for his recovery ; one of 
them therefore immediately consented to swallow a 
broad bayonet. Accordingly, a conjuring-house was 
erected in the manner above described, into which the 
patient was conveyed, and he was soon followed by the 



1 77 1. THE BAYONET TRICK. 169 

conjurer, who, after a long preparatory discourse, and 
the necessary conference with the familiar spirits, or 
shadows, as they call them, advanced to the door and 
asked for the bayonet, which was then ready prepared, 
by having a string tied to it, and a short piece of wood 
tied to the other end of the string to prevent him from 
swallowing it. I could not help observing that the 
length of the bit of wood was not more than the breadth 
of the bayonet ; however, as it answered the intended 
purpose, it did equally well as if it had been as long as 
a handspike. Though I am not so credulous as to be- 
lieve that the conjurer absolutely swallowed the bayonet, 
yet I must acknowledge that in the twinkling of an eye 
he conveyed it to — God knows where ; and the small 
piece of wood, or one exactly like it, was confined close 
to his teeth. He then paraded back and forth before the 
conjuring-house for a short time, when he feigned to be 
greatly distressed in his stomach and bowels ; and, after 
making many wry faces, and groaning most hideously, 
he put his body into several distorted attitudes very 
suitable to the occasion. He then returned to the door 
of the conjuring-house, and after making many strong 
efforts to vomit, by the help of the string he at length, 
and after tugging at it for some time, produced the 
bayonet, which apparently he hauled out of his mouth, 
to the no small surprise of all present. He then looked 
round with an air of exultation and strutted into the 
house, where he renewed his incantations, and continued 
them without intermission twenty-four hours. Though 
I was not close to his elbow when he performed the 
above feat, yet I thought myself near enough to have 
detected him. Indeed, I must confess that it appeared 
to me to be a very nice piece of deception, especially as 
it was performed by a man quite naked. 



I^O STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1771. 

Not long after this sleight-of-hand work was over 
some of the Indians asked me what I thought of it, to 
which I answered that I was too far off to see it so 
plain as I could wish, which indeed was no more than 
the strictest truth, because I was not near enough to 
detect the deception. The sick man, however, soon 
recovered, and in a few days afterwards we left that 
place and proceeded to the southwest. 1 . . . 

I do not remember to have met with any travellers 
into high northern latitudes who remarked their having 
heard the Northern Lights make any noise in the air as 
they vary their colors or position, which may probably 
be owing to the want of perfect silence at the time they 
made their observations. I can positively affirm that 
in still nights I have frequently heard them make a 
rustling sound and crackling noise, like the waving of a 
large flag in a fresh gale of wind. This is not peculiar 
to the place of which I am now writing, as I have heard 
the same noise very plain at Churchill River, and in all 
probability it is only for want of attention that it has 
not been heard in every part of the northern hem- 
isphere where they have been known to shine with any 
degree of lustre. . . . 

The beaver being so plentiful the attention of my 
companions was chiefly engaged on them, as they not 
only furnished delicious food, but their skins proved a 
valuable acquisition, being a principal article of trade 
as well as a serviceable one for clothing, etc. The 
situation of the beaver-houses is various. Where the 
beavers are numerous they are found to inhabit lakes, 
ponds, and rivers, as well as those narrow creeks which 

1 Mr. Hearne afterwards gives rather a lame explanation of the least 
important part of this trick. 



1771- THE BEAVER. I'Jl 

connect the numerous lakes with which this country 
abounds, but the two latter are generally chosen by 
them when the depth of water and other circumstances 
are suitable, as they have then the advantage of a cur- 
rent to convey wood and other necessaries to their 
habitations, and because, in general, they are more 
difficult to be taken than those that are built in stand- 
ing water. 

There is no one particular part of a lake, pond, 
river, or creek, of which the beavers make choice for 
building their houses on, in preference to another, for 
they sometimes build on points, sometimes in the hol- 
low of a bay, and often on small islands ; they always 
choose, however, those parts that have such a depth of 
water as will resist the frost in winter and prevent it 
from freezing to the bottom. The beavers that build 
their houses in small rivers or creeks, in which the 
water is liable to be drained off when the back supplies 
are dried up by the frost, are wonderfully taught by 
instinct to provide against that evil by making a dam 
quite across the river, at a convenient distance from 
their houses. This I look upon as the most curious 
piece of workmanship that is performed by the beaver ; 
not so much for the neatness of the work as for its 
strength and real service, and at the same time it dis- 
covers such a degree of sagacity and foresight in the 
animal of approaching evils as is little inferior to that 
of the human species, and is certainly peculiar to those 
animals. 

The beaver-dams differ in shape according to the na- 
ture of the place in which they are built. If the 
water in the river or creek have but little motion the 
dam is almost straight, but when the current is more 



172 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1771. 

rapid it is always made with a considerable curve, con- 
vex toward the stream. The materials made use of in 
those dams are drift-wood, green willows, birch, and 
poplars, if they can be got, also mud and stones inter- 
mixed in such a manner as must evidently contribute to 
the strength of the dam, but in these dams there is no 
other order or method observed, except that of the 
work being carried on with a regular sweep, and all the 
parts being made of equal strength. In places which 
have long been frequented by beavers undisturbed, 
their dams by frequent repairing become a solid bank, 
capable of resisting a great force both of water and ice, 
and as the willow, poplar, and birch generally take root 
and shoot up, they by degrees form a kind of regular- 
planted hedge, which I have seen in some places so tall 
that birds have built their nests among the branches. 

Though the beaver which build their houses in lakes 
and other standing waters may enjoy a sufficient quan- 
tity of their favorite element without the assistance of a 
dam, the trouble of getting wood and other necessaries 
to their habitations without the help of a current must, 
in some measure, counterbalance the other advantages 
which are reaped from such a situation, for it must be 
observed that the beaver which build in rivers and 
creeks always cut their wood above their houses so that 
the current, with little trouble, conveys it to the place 
required. 

The beaver-houses are built of the same materials as 
their dams and are always proportioned in size to the 
number of inhabitants, which seldom exceed four old 
and six or eight young ones; though, by chance I 
have seen above double that number. These houses, 
though not altogether unworthy of admiration, fall very 



I77I- THE BEAVER. 1 73 

short of the general description of them ; for, instead 
of order or regulation being observed in rearing them, 
they are of a much ruder structure than their dams. 

Those who have undertaken to describe the inside of 
beaver-houses as having several apartments appropriated 
to various uses, such as eating, sleeping, store-houses 
for provisions, etc., must have been very little acquainted 
with the subject, or, which is still worse, guilty of attempt- 
ing to impose on the credulous by representing the great- 
est falsehoods as facts. Many years residence among 
the Indians, during which I had an opportunity of seeing 
hundreds of these houses, has enabled me to affirm that 
everything of the kind is entirely void of truth ; for, 
notwithstanding the sagacity of those animals, it has 
never been observed that they aim at any other con- 
veniences in their houses than to have a dry place to lie 
on, and there they usually eat their victuals which they 
occasionally take out of the water. It frequently hap- 
pens that some of the large houses are found to have 
one or more partitions, if they deserve that appellation, 
but that is no more than a part of the main building 
left by the sagacity of the beaver to support the roof. 
On such occasions it is common for those different 
apartments, as some are pleased to call them, to have 
no communication with each other except by water ; so 
that in fact they may be called double or treble houses 
rather than different apartments of the same house. I 
have seen a large beaver-house built in a small island 
that had near a dozen apartments under one roof ; and, 
two or three of these only excepted, none of them had 
any communication with each other but by water. As 
there were beaver enough to inhabit each apartment it 
is more than probable that each family knew its own, 



174 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1771. 

and always entered at their own door, without having 
any further connection with their neighbors than a 
friendly intercourse, and to join their united labors in 
erecting their separate habitations and building their 
dams where required. It is difficult to say whether 
their interest on other occasions was anyways recip- 
rocal. 

Travellers who assert that the beaver have two 
doors to their houses, one on the land side and the 
other next the water, seem to be less acquainted with 
those animals than others who assign them an elegant 
suite of apartments. Such a proceeding would be quite 
contrary to their manner of life, and at the same time 
would render their houses of no use, either to protect 
them from their enemies or guard them against the 
extreme cold of winter. 

The quiquepatches or wolverines are great enemies 
to the beaver, and if there were a passage into their 
houses on the land side would not leave one of them 
alive wherever they came. I cannot refrain from 
smiling when I read the accounts of different authors 
who have written on the economy of these animals, as 
there seems to be a contest between them who shall 
most exceed in fiction. But the " Compiler of Wonders 
of Nature and Art " seems, in my opinion, to have suc- 
ceeded best in this respect, as he has not only collected 
all the fictions into which other writers on the subject 
have run, but has so greatly improved on them that 
little remains to be added to his account of the beaver, 
beside a vocabulary of their language, a code of their 
laws, and a sketch of their religion, to make it the most 
complete natural history of that animal that can possibly 
be offered to the public. ... To deny that the beaver 



1771. THE BEAVER. 1 75 

is possessed of a very considerable degree of sagacity 
would be as absurd in me as it is in those authors who 
think they cannot allow them too much. I shall wil- 
lingly grant them their full share, but it is impossible 
for any one to conceive how, or by what means, a 
beaver, whose whole height when standing erect does 
not exceed two feet and a half, or three feet at most, 
and whose fore-paws are not much larger than a half- 
crown piece, can " drive stakes as thick as a man's leg 
into the ground, three or four feet deep." Their "wat- 
tling those stakes with twigs" is equally absurd, and 
their "plastering the inside of their houses with a com- 
position of mud and straw, and swimming with mud and 
straw on their tails " are still more incredible. The 
form and size of the animal, notwithstanding all its 
sagacity, will not admit of its performing such feats, 
and it would be as impossible for a beaver to use its 
tail as a trowel, except on the surface of the ground on 
which it walks, as it would have been for Sir James 
Thornhill to have painted the dome of St. Paul's Ca- 
thedral without the assistance of a scaffolding. The 
joints of their tail will not admit of their turning it over 
on their backs on any occasion whatever, as it has a 
natural inclination to bend downwards, and it is not 
without some considerable exertion that they can keep 
it from trailing on the ground. This being the case 
they cannot sit erect, like a squirrel, which is their com- 
mon posture, particularly when eating, or when they are 
cleaning themselves as a cat or squirrel does, without 
having their tails bent forward between their legs, and 
which may not improperly be called their trencher. 

So far are the beaver from driving stakes into the 
ground when building their houses, that they lay most of 



176 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1771. 

the wood crosswise, and nearly horizontal, and without 
any other order than that of leaving a hollow or cavity 
in the middle ; when any unnecessary branches project 
inward they cut them off with their teeth, and throw 
them in among the rest, to prevent the mud from falling 
through the roof. It is a mistaken notion that the 
wood-work is first completed and then plastered ; for 
the whole of their houses, as well as their dams, are 
from the foundation one mass of wood and mud, mixed 
with stones, if they can be procured. The mud is 
always taken from the edge of the bank, or the bottom 
of the creek or pond, near the door of the house ; and 
though their fore-paws are so small, yet it is held close 
up between them, under their throat, that they carry 
both mud and stones, while they always drag the wood 
with their teeth. All their work is executed in the 
night, and they are so expeditious in completing it that 
in the course of one night I have known them to have 
collected as much mud at their houses as to have 
amounted to some thousands of their little handfuls, 
and when any mixture of grass or straw has appeared 
in it, it has been, most assuredly, mere chance, owing to 
the nature of the ground from which they had taken it. 
As to their designedly making a composition for that 
purpose, it is entirely void of truth. ... As they are seen 
to walk over their work and sometimes to give a flap 
with their tail, particularly when plunging into the water, 
this has, without doubt, given rise to the vulgar opinion 
that they use their tails as a trowel, with which they 
plaster their houses, whereas that flapping of the tail is 
no more than a custom, which they always preserve, 
even when they become tame and domestic, and more 
particularly so when they are startled. . . . 



1 771- THE BEAVER. 177 

When the beaver which are situated in a small river 
or creek are to be taken the Indians sometimes find it 
necessary to stake the river across to prevent them 
from passing, after which they endeavor to find out all 
their holes or places of retreat in the banks. This 
requires much practice and experience to accomplish, 
and is performed in the following manner : Every man 
being furnished with an ice-chisel, lashes it to the end 
of a small staff about four or five feet long; he then 
walks along the edge of the banks and keeps knocking 
his chisels against the ice. Those who are well ac- 
quainted with that kind of work well know by the 
sound of the ice when they are opposite to any of the 
beaver's holes or vaults. As soon as they suspect any 
they cut a hole through the ice big enough to admit an 
old beaver, and in this manner proceed till they have 
found out all their places of retreat, or at least as many 
of them as possible. While the principal men are thus 
employed, some of the understrappers and the women 
and children are busy in breaking open the house, 
which at times is no easy task, for I have known these 
houses to be five and six feet thick, and one in par- 
ticular was more than eight feet thick on the crown. 
When the beaver find that their habitations are in- 
vaded they fly to the holes in the banks for shelter, and 
on being perceived by the Indians, which is easily done 
by attending to the motion of the water, they block up 
the entrance with stakes of wood, and then haul the 
beaver out of its hole, either by hand, if they can reach 
it, or with a large hook made for that purpose, which is 
fastened to the end of a long stick. 

The beaver cannot keep under water long at a time, 
so that when their houses are broken open, and all 



^8 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 177'- 

their places of retreat discovered, they have but one 
choice left, as it may be called, either to be taken in 
their houses or their vaults. In general they prefer the 
latter ; for where one beaver is taken in the house many 
thousands are taken in their vaults in the banks. . . . 

On the eleventh of January, as some of my com- 
panions were hunting, they saw the track of a strange 
snow-shoe, which they followed, and at a considerable 
distance came to a little hut where they discovered a 
young woman sitting alone. As they found that she 
understood their language, they brought her with them 
to the tents. On examination she proved to be one of 
the Western Dog-ribbed Indians, who had been taken 
prisoner by the Athapuscow Indians in the summer of 
1770, and in the following summer, when they were near 
this part, she had eloped from them with an intent to 
return to her own country ; but the distance being so 
great, and having, after she was taken prisoner, been 
carried in a canoe the whole way, the turnings and 
windings of the rivers and lakes were so numerous that 
she forgot the track, so she built the hut in which we 
found her to protect her from the weather during the 
winter, and here she had lived from the first setting in 
of the fall. 

From her account of the moons past since her 
elopement, it appeared that she had been near seven 
months without seeing a human face, during all which 
time she had supported herself very well by snar- 
ing partridges, rabbits, and squirrels ; she had also 
killed two or three beaver and some porcupines. The 
methods practised by this poor creature to procure a 
livelihood were truly admirable, and are great proofs 
that necessity is the real mother of invention. When 



I77I- A WOMAN ROBINSON CRUSOE. 1 79 

the few deer-sinews that she had an opportunity of 
taking with her were all expended in making snares 
and sewing her clothing, she had nothing to supply their 
place but the sinews of the rabbits' legs and feet ; these 
she twisted together for the purpose with great dexterity 
and success. The rabbits, etc., which she caught in 
those snares not only furnished her with a comfortable 
subsistence, but of the skins she made a suit of neat 
and warm clothing for the winter. It is scarcely pos- 
sible to conceive that a person in her forlorn situation 
could be so composed as to be capable of contriving or 
executing anything that was not absolutely necessary to 
her existence ; but there were sufficient proofs that she 
had extended her care much farther, as all her clothing, 
besides being calculated for real service, showed great 
taste, and exhibited no little variety of ornament. The 
materials, though rude, were very curiously wrought, 
and so judiciously placed as to make the whole of her 
garb have a very pleasing, though rather romantic 
appearance. 

Her leisure hours from hunting had been employed 
in twisting the inner rind or bark of willows into 
small lines, like net-twine, of which she had some 
hundred fathoms by her ; with this she intended to 
make a fishing-net as soon as the spring advanced. 
Five or six inches of an iron hoop made into a knife, 
and the shank of an arrow-head of iron, which served 
her as an awl, were all the metals this poor woman had 
with her when she eloped, and with these implements 
she had made herself complete snow-shoes and several 
other articles. Her method of making a fire was 
equally singular and curious, having no other materials 
for that purpose than two hard, sulphurous stones. 



180 STORIES OF ADVENTURE j 77I . 

These, by long friction and hard knocking, produced a 
few sparks, which at length communicated to some 
touchwood ; but as this method was attended with great 
trouble, and not always with success, she did not suffer 
her fire to go out all winter. 

The singularity of the circumstance, the comeliness of 
her person, and her accomplishments, occasioned a con- 
test between several of the Indians of my party who 
should have her for a wife, and the poor girl was actu- 
ally won and lost at wrestling by near half a score of 
them the same evening. . . . 

From the middle to the latter end of March, and, 
again, in the beginning of April, though the thaw 
was not general, yet in the middle of the day it was 
very considerable. It commonly froze hard in the 
nights, and the young men took the advantage of the 
mornings, when the snow was hard crusted over, and 
ran down a good many moose ; for in those situations a 
man with a good pair of snow-shoes will scarcely make 
any impression on the snow, while the moose, and even 
the deer, will break through it at every step up to the 
belly. Notwithstanding this, however, it is very seldom 
that the Indians attempt to run deer down. The moose 
are so tender-footed and so short-winded that a good 
runner will generally tire them in less than a day, and 
very frequently in six or eight hours; though I have 
known some of the Indians continue the chase for two 
days before they could come up with and kill the game. 
On those occasions the Indians, in general, only take 
with them a knife or bayonet, and a little bag containing 
a set of fire-tackle, and are as lightly clothed as pos- 
sible ; some of them will carry a bow and two or three 
arrows, but I never knew any of them to take a gun, 



1771- 



INTERVIEWS. l8l 



except such as had been blown or bursted, and the bar- 
rels cut quite short, which, when reduced to the least 
possible size to be capable of doing any service, must 
be too great a weight for a man to run with in his hand 
for so many hours together. 

When the poor moose are incapable of making far- 
ther speed they stand and keep their pursuers at bay 
with their head and forefeet, in the use of which they 
are very dexterous, especially the latter, so that the 
Indians who have neither a bow or arrows, nor a short 
gun with them, are generally obliged to lash their knives 
or bayonets to the end of a long stick and stab the 
moose at a distance. For want of this necessary pre- 
caution some of the boys and foolhardy young men 
who have attempted to rush in upon them have fre- 
quently received such unlucky blows from their forefeet 
as to render their recovery very doubtful. . . . 

When two parties of Indians meet, the ceremonies 
which pass between them are quite different from those 
made use of in Europe on similar occasions ; for when 
they advance within twenty or thirty yards of each 
other they make a full halt, and in general lie or sit 
down on the ground, and do not speak for some 
minutes. At length one of them, generally an elderly 
man, if any be in company, breaks silence by acquaint- 
ing the other party with every misfortune that has 
befallen him and his companions from the last time 
they had seen or heard of each other, and also of all 
deaths and other calamities that have befallen any 
other Indians during the same period, at least as many 
particulars as have come to his knowledge. When the 
first has finished his oration another aged orator, if 
there be any, belonging to the other party, relates, in 



1 82 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1771. 

like manner, all the bad news that has come to his 
knowledge, and both parties never fail to plead poverty 
and famine on all occasions. If these orations contain 
any news that in the least affect the other party it is 
not long before some of them begin to sigh and sob, 
and soon after break out into a loud cry, which is gen- 
erally accompanied by most of the grown persons of 
both sexes, and sometimes it is common to see them all, 
men, women, and children, in one universal howl. The 
young girls in particular are often very obliging on 
those occasions, for I never remember to have seen a 
crying match but the greatest part of the company 
assisted, although some of them had no other reason 
for it but that of seeing their companions do the same. 
When the first transports of grief subside they advance 
by degrees, and both parties mix with each other, the 
men always associating with the men and the women 
with the women. If they have any tobacco among 
them, the pipes are passed round pretty freely, and the 
conversation soon becomes general. As they are on 
their first meeting acquainted with all the bad news, 
they have by this time nothing left but good, which in 
general has so far the predominance over the former 
that in less than half an hour nothing but smiles and 
cheerfulness are to be seen on every face, and if they 
be not really in want small presents of provisions, am- 
munition, and other articles often take place, sometimes 
by way of a gift, but more frequently by way of trying 
whether they cannot get a greater present. They have 
but few diversions ; the chief is shooting at a mark with 
bow and arrows, and another out-door game, called 
Holl, which in some measure resembles playing with 
quoits, only it is done with short clubs, sharp at one end. 



I77I- AN INDOOR GAME. 1 83 

They also amuse themselves with dancing, which is 
always performed in the night. Besides these diver- 
sions they have another simple indoor game, which is 
that of taking a bit of wood, a button, or any other 
small thing, and after shifting it from hand to hand 
several times, asking their antagonist, "Which hand is it 
in ? " When playing at this game, which only admits 
of two persons, each of them have ten, fifteen, or twenty 
small chips of wood like matches, and when one of the 
players guesses right he takes one of his antagonist's 
sticks and lays it to his own, and he that first gets all 
the sticks from the other in that manner is said to win 
the game, which is generally for a single load of powder 
and shot, an arrow, or some other thing of inconsider- 
able value. 



IX. 

HUMBOLDT'S TRAVELS. 

ONE of the boys said that Hearne's Travels seemed 
to bring them quite within our own time. The 
stately great quarto is dedicated to the Hudson's Bay 
Company, and in his holidays last summer Bedford had 
seen packages addressed to their agents, lying at the 
station at Montreal. 

Tom Rising said that in the preface to Hearne's 
travels there was a reference to a lively quarrel between 
him and Mr. Dalrymple. 

Col. Ingham said that Mr. Dalrymple was one of the 
map-makers who stayed at home, and had to plot or 
put down the observations of the men who travelled. 
Hearne's latitudes and longitudes did not prove to be 
quite exact. But, as to the main point, that there was 
a Northern Ocean somewhere near the parallel of 70 , 
he settled that matter. 

"But now," said he, "you begin to come to the time 
when geography itself becomes a science. You had 
better look into some of the magnificent Humboldt 
books. You all know his name, and what he did is 
what you would all like to do. Here he was, a young 
German gentleman, with plenty of money and a taste 
for natural history. His family was important enough 
for him to secure good recommendations among diplo- 
matists and such people. He had the favor of govern- 



i8Si. HUMBOLDT'S TRAVELS. l8$ 

merits, and he had money enough to go where he 
pleased. 

" At that time, almost the first time, the Spanish gov- 
ernment relaxed a little the secrecy in which it had tried 
to keep all the world ignorant of all its immense pos- 
sessions. They gave Humboldt in 1799 full power to 
go where he chose in their provinces in America and 
the East Indies. Humboldt went, and spent nearly five 
years in America. 

" He was in Washington in 1804, and saw President 
Jefferson, who was himself a bit of a naturalist." 

The boys and girls got down different volumes of 
Humboldt's Travels. Some of them are very elegant, 
and there is one atlas of prints of curious things he 
saw in Mexico and South America, in which, to their 
joy, they found the origins of many pictures still extant 
in the school geographies. 

Laura was looking at his Life. " Why, Uncle Fritz, 
they were educated by our dear old Campe." 

"Who is our dear old Campe?" said Emma. "I 
never heard of him." 

" Campe is — oh, yes, you have, only you forget — 
he is the man who made the little Robinson Crusoe." 

"Oh, he is the stone-axe man ?" asked Tom Rising. 

Yes, he is the stone-axe man. What the children 
meant was this, — that he wrote a Robinson Crusoe which 
some of them had read, in which Robinson Crusoe had 
a stone axe. In the original Robinson Crusoe, by the 
Englishman, Defoe, Robinson was supplied with the 
necessaries of life from the wreck of the ship, just as 
"Crusoe in New York" was supplied from the old junk- 
shop which had that name. But the French philosopher, 
Rousseau, said that for a book of education it should 



1 86 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1881. 

show how a man would fare who had actually nothing 
but his hands. 

So this German minister Campe, who had been a 
chaplain in the army, and had become a teacher of 
youth, in the hope of thus ameliorating the condition of 
mankind, wrote his famous Robinson the Younger. I 
believe he does let Robinson have a jackknife when he 
is thrown upon the beach, though that violates the prin- 
ciple. When it becomes necessary for Robinson to cut 
down trees he walks along on the beach, and there he 
finds a stone sharp on one edge and in the shape of an 
axe-head. What is more, by great good luck the water 
has worn through a hole in the stone just where the 
handle of the axe should be fitted. So Robinson put a 
handle into the stone and went on his way conquering 
and to conquer. 

This absurdity of the accidental axe-head so im- 
pressed the children that they always called the book 
the stone-axe Robinson. Still it was a book they liked 
to take down from the Colonel's shelves, and it would 
be a good book now to put in public libraries. The 
catalogue title of it in English is "The New Robinson 
Crusoe." In Germany it is better known, probably, 
than the original. In the early editions it takes the 
form of a conversation between a father and his children. 

Tom Rising said, " That virtuous boy, who asks the 
priggish questions, must have been Alexander von Hum- 
boldt's brother." 

" And the stupid boy," said Bob, " who hardly knows 
the difference between a needle and a fish-hook, he is 
Alexander von Humboldt himself. Stupid boys, if 
they are only stupid enough to be neglected by the 
schoolmasters, always turn out remarkable men." 



1799- HUMBOLDT'S TRAVELS. 187 

The children laughed at Bob's frank confession of 
his theory of life, but Col. Ingham, who feared that 
the talk was becoming heretical, bade Fanchon read 
some of Humboldt's own accounts of his notion in 
travelling. 



HUMBOLDT'S JOURNEY TO THE EQUINOCTIAL 
REGIONS. 

From my earliest youth I felt an ardent desire to 
travel into distant regions seldom visited by Europeans. 
This desire is characteristic of a period of our existence 
when life appears an unlimited horizon, and when we 
find an irresistible attraction in the impetuous agitations 
of the mind and the image of positive danger. Though 
educated in a country which has no direct communica- 
tion with either the East or the West Indies ; living 
amidst mountains remote from coasts, and celebrated 
for their numerous mines, I felt an increasing passion 
for the sea and distant expeditions. Objects with which 
we are acquainted only by the animated narrations of 
travellers have a peculiar charm ; imagination wanders 
with delight over that which is vague and undefined, 
and the pleasures we are deprived of seem to possess a 
fascinating power, compared with which all we daily 
feel in the narrow circle of sedentary life appears in- 
sipid. The taste for herborization, the study of geology, 
rapid excursions to Holland, England, and France, with 
the celebrated Mr. George Forster, who had the hap- 
piness to accompany Captain Cook in his second voyage 
round the globe, contributed to give a determined direc- 
tion to the plan of travels which I had formed at 
eighteen years of age. No longer deluded by the agita- 



1 88 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

tions of a wandering life, I was anxious to contem- 
plate Nature in all her variety of wild and stupendous 
scenery; and the hope of collecting some facts useful to 
the advancement of science incessantly impelled my 
wishes towards the luxuriant regions of the torrid zone. 
As personal circumstances then prevented me from 
executing the projects by which I was so powerfully 
influenced, I had leisure to prepare myself during six 
years for the observations I proposed to make on the 
New Continent, as well as to visit different parts of 
Europe, and to explore the lofty chain of the Alps, the 
structure of which I might afterwards compare with 
that of the Andes of Quito and of Peru. . . . 

From the time of leaving Graciosa the horizon con- 
tinued so hazy that, notwithstanding the considerable 
height of the mountains of Canary, 1 we did not discover 
that island till the 18th of June. On the morning of 
the 19th we discovered the point of Naga, but the 
peak of Teneriffe was still invisible. The land, ob- 
scured by a thick mist, presented forms that were vague 
and confused. As we approached the road of Santa 
Cruz we observed that the mist, driven by the winds, 
drew nearer to us. The sea was strongly agitated, as it 
most commonly is in these latitudes. We anchored 
after several soundings, for the mist was so thick that 
we could scarcely distinguish objects at a few cables' 
distance, but at the moment we began to salute the 
place the fog was instantly dispelled. The peak of 
Teyde appeared in a break above the clouds, and the 
first rays of the sun, which had not yet risen on us, 
illumined the summit of the volcano. We hastened to 
the prow of the vessel to behold the magnificent spec- 

1 Isla de la Gran Canaria. 



1799- ASCENDING THE PITON. 189 

tacle, and at the same instant we saw four English ves- 
sels lying to and very near our stern. We had passed 
without being perceived, and the same mist which had 
concealed the peak from our view had saved us from 
the risk of being carried back to Europe. 1 

The Pizarro stood in as close as possible to the fort, 
to be under its protection. It was on this shore that 
in the landing attempted by the English two years be- 
fore our arrival, in July, 1797, Admiral Nelson had his 
arm carried off by a cannon-ball. . . . 

Though the captain had orders to stop at Teneriffe 
to give us time to scale the summit of the peak, if the 
snows did not prevent our ascent, we received notice, on 
account of the blockade of the English ships, not to ex- 
pect a longer delay than four or five days. We conse- 
quently hastened our departure for the port of Orotava, 
which is situated on the western declivity of the volcano, 
where we were sure of finding guides. I could find no 
one at Santa Cruz who had mounted the peak, and I was 
not surprised at this. The most curious objects become 
less interesting in proportion as they are near to us ; 
and I have known inhabitants of Schaffhausen, in Swit- 
zerland, who had never seen the fall of the Rhine but at a 
distance. . . . 

About three in the morning, by the sombrous light 
of a few pine-torches, we started on our journey to the 
summit of the Piton. We scaled the volcano on the 
northeast side, where the declivities are extremely steep ; 
and after two hours' toil we reached a small plain, which, 
on account of its elevated position, bears the name of 
Alta Vista. This is the station of the neveros, those na- 
tives whose occupation is to collect ice and snow, which 

1 For this was in time of war. 



I90 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

they sell in the neighboring towns. Their mules, better 
practised in climbing mountains than those hired by 
travellers, reach Alta Vista, and the neveros are obliged 
to transport the snow to that place on their backs. We 
turned to the right to examine the cavern of ice, which is 
at the elevation of 1,728 toises, consequently below the 
limit of perpetual snows in this zone. Probably the cold 
which prevails in this cavern is owing to the same causes 
which perpetuate the ice in the crevices of Mount Jura 
and the Apennines. . . . Day was beginning to dawn 
when we left the ice-cavern. We observed, during the 
twilight, a phenomenon which is not unusual on high 
mountains, but which the position of the volcano we were 
scaling rendered very striking. A layer of white and 
fleecy clouds concealed from us the sight of the ocean 
and the lower region of the island. This layer did not 
appear above eight hundred toises high ; the clouds were 
so uniformly spread, and kept so perfect a level, that they 
wore the appearance of a vast plain covered with snow. 
The colossal pyramid of the peak, the volcanic summits 
of Lancerota, of Forteventura, and the isle of Palma, 
were like rocks amidst the sea of vapors, and their black 
tints were in fine contrast with the whiteness of the 
clouds. 

While we were climbing over the broken lavas of the 
Malpays, we perceived a very curious optical phenom- 
enon, which lasted eight minutes. We thought we saw 
on the east side small rockets thrown into the air. Lu- 
minous points, about seven or eight degrees above the 
horizon, appeared first to move in a vertical direction ; 
but the motion was gradually changed into a horizontal 
oscillation. Our fellow-travellers, our guides even, were 
astonished at this phenomenon, without our having made 



1799- ASCENDING THE PI TON. I91 

any remark on it to them. We thought, at first sight, 
that these points which floated in the air indicated some 
new eruption of the great volcano of Lancerota, for we 
recollected that Bouguer and La Condamine, in scaling 
the volcano of Pichincha, were witnesses of the eruption 
of Cotopaxi. But the illusion soon ceased, and we found 
that the luminous points were the images of stars mag- 
nified by the vapors. . . . 

The road, which we were obliged to clear for our- 
selves, across the Malpays, was extremely fatiguing. 
The ascent is steep, and the blocks of lava rolled be- 
neath our feet. Unfortunately the listlessness of our 
guides contributed to increase the difficulty of the ascent. 
Unlike the guides of the valley of Chamouni, or the 
nimble-footed Guanches, who could, it is asserted, seize 
the rabbit or the wild goat in its course, our Canarian 
guides were models of the phlegmatic. They had wished 
to persuade us on the preceding evening not to go be- 
yond the station of the rocks. Every ten minutes they 
sat down to rest themselves, and when unobserved they 
threw away the specimens we had collected. We dis- 
covered at length that none of them had ever visited 
the summit of the volcano. . . . 

We had yet to scale the steepest part of the mountain, 
the Piton, which forms the summit. The slope of this 
small cone, covered with volcanic ashes and fragments 
of pumice-stone, is so steep that it would have been al- 
most impossible to reach the top had we not ascended 
by the old current of lava, the debris of which have re- 
sisted the ravages of time. We ascended the Piton by 
grasping these half-decomposed scoriae, which often 
broke in our hands. 

Vesuvius, three times lower than the peak of Teneriffe, 



192 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1779. 

is terminated by a cone of ashes almost three times 
higher, but with a more accessible and easy slope. Of 
all the volcanos which I have visited, that of Jorullo, in 
Mexico, is the only one that is more difficult to climb 
than the peak, because the whole mountain is covered 
with loose ashes. 

When we gained the summit of the Piton, we were 
surprised to find scarcely room to seat ourselves con- 
veniently. We were stopped by a small circular wall of 
lava, with a base of pitchstone, which concealed from 
us the view of the crater. The west wind blew with such 
violence that we could scarcely stand. It was eight in the 
morning, and we suffered severely from the cold, though 
the thermometer kept a little above freezing point. For 
a long time we had been accustomed to a very high tem- 
perature, and the dry wind increased the feeling of 
cold. . . . 

Notwithstanding the heat we felt in our feet on the 
edge of the crater, the cone of ashes remains covered 
with snow during several months in winter. The cold 
and violent wind, which blew from the time of sunrise, 
induced us to seek shelter at the foot of the Piton. Our 
hands and faces were nearly frozen, while our boots were 
burnt by the soil on which we walked. We descended 
in the space of a few minutes the Sugar-Loaf which we 
had scaled with so much toil, and this rapidity was in 
some respects involuntary, for we often rolled down on 
the ashes. . . . 

As we approached the town of Orotava, we met great 
flocks of canaries. These birds, well known in Europe, 
were in general uniformly green ; some, however, had a 
yellow tinge on their backs ; their note was the same as 
the tame canary. The yellow canaries are a variety, 



1799- THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 1 93 

which has taken birth in Europe, and those we saw in 
cages at Orotava and Santa Cruz had been bought at 
Cadiz, and in other parts of Spain. But of all the birds 
of the Canary Islands, that which has the most heart- 
soothing song is unknown in Europe. It is the capirote, 
which no effort has succeeded in taming, so sacred is its 
soul to liberty. I have stood listening in admiration of 
his soft and melodious warbling in a garden at Orotava, 
but I have never seen him sufficiently near to ascertain 
to what family he belongs. . . . 



On the 3d and 4th of July, we crossed that part of 
the Atlantic where the charts indicate the bank of the 
maalstrom, and towards night we altered our course 
to avoid the danger, the existence of which is however 
doubted. It would have been, perhaps, as prudent to 
have continued our course. The old charts are filled 
with rocks, some of which really exist, though most of 
them are merely the offspring of those optical illusions 
which are more frequent at sea than in inland places. 

From the time we entered the torrid zone we were 
never weary of admiring at night the beauty of the 
southern sky, which as we advanced to the south opened 
new constellations to our view. The pleasure we felt in 
discovering the Southern Cross was warmly shared by 
those of our crew who had visited the colonies. In the 
solitude of the seas we hail a star as a friend, from 
whom we have been long separated. The Portuguese 
and the Spaniards are peculiarly susceptible of this 
feeling ; a religious sentiment attaches them to a con- 
stellation, the form of which recalls the sign of the faith 
planted by their ancestors in the deserts of the New 

13 



194 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

World. The two stars which mark the summit and the 
foot of the cross having nearly the same right ascension, 
it follows that the constellation is almost perpendicular 
at the moment when it passes the meridian. This circum- 
stance is known to the people of every nation situated 
beyond the tropics or in the Southern Hemisphere. It 
has been observed at what hour of the night, in different 
seasons, the cross is erect or inclined. It is a time-piece 
which advances very regularly four minutes a day, and 
no other group of stars affords to the naked eye an ob- 
servation of time so easily made. How often have we 
heard our guides exclaim in the savannahs of Venezuela, 
or in the deserts extending from Lima to Truxillo, 
" Midnight is past, the cross begins to bend." How 
often these words remind us of that affecting scene, 
where Paul and Virginia, seated near the source of the 
river Lataniers, conversed together for the last time, 
and when the old man, at the sight of the Southern 
Cross, warns them that it is time to separate. . . . 



The banks of the Manzanares are very pleasant, and 
are shaded by mimosas and other trees of a gigantic 
growth. A river, the temperature of which in the sea- 
son of the floods, descends as low as twenty-two de- 
grees, 1 while the air is at thirty and thirty-three degrees, 
is an inestimable benefit in a country where the heat is 
excessive during the whole year, and where it is so 
agreeable to bathe several times in a day. The children 
pass a considerable part of their lives in the water; all 
the inhabitants, even the women of the most opulent 

1 Of Reaumur's thermometer. Each degree is equal to z\ of our ther- 
mometers, and the zero is our 32 . 



1779- PEARL OYSTERS. 1 95 

families, know how to swim j and in a country where man 
is so near the state of nature, one of the first questions 
asked on meeting in the morning is, whether the water 
is cooler than on the preceding evening. One of the 
modes of bathing is curious. We every evening visited 
a family in the suburb of the Guayquerias. In a fine 
moonlight night, chairs were placed in the water ; the 
men and women were lightly dressed, and the family 
and strangers assembled in the river, passed some hours 
in smoking cigars and talking, according to the custom 
of the country, of the extreme dryness of the season, of 
the abundant rains in the neighboring districts, and par- 
ticularly of extravagances of which the ladies of Cumana 
accuse those of the Caracas and the Havannah. The 
company were under no apprehension of the crocodiles, 
which are now extremely scarce, and which approach 
men without attacking them. We never met with them 
in the Manzanares, but with a great number of dolphins, 
which sometimes ascend the river in the night, and 
frighten the bathers by spouting water. 

The pearl-breeding oyster abounds on the shoals 
which extend from Cape Paria to Cape la Vela. It is 
warmly alleged by some historians that the natives of 
America were unacquainted with the luxury of pearls. 
The first Spaniards who landed in Terra Firma found 
the savages decked with pearl necklaces and bracelets ; 
and among the civilized people of Mexico and Peru 
pearls of a beautiful form were extremely sought after. 
Benzoni relates the adventure of one Luigi Lampagnano, 
to whom Charles the Fifth granted the privilege of pro- 
ceeding with five carvels to the coast of Cumana to fish 
for pearls. The colonists sent him back with this bold 
message, — "that the emperor was too liberal of what was 



195 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

not his own, and he had no right to dispose of the oysters 
which live at the bottom of the sea." 

Among the mulattoes whose huts surround the salt 
lake we found a shoemaker of Castilian descent. He 
received us with an air of gravity and self-sufficiency 
which in those countries characterize almost all persons 
who are conscious of possessing some particular talent. 
He was employed in stretching the string of his bow and 
sharpening his arrows, to shoot birds. His trade of 
shoemaker could not be very lucrative in a country 
where the greater part of the inhabitants go barefooted, 
and he only complained that, on account of the dearness 
of European gunpowder, a man of his quality was re- 
duced to use the same weapons as the Indians. He 
was the sage of the plain ; he understood the formation 
of the salt by the influence of the sun and full moon ; 
the symptoms of earthquakes ; the marks by means of 
which mines of gold and silver are discovered, and the 
medicinal plants, which, like all the other colonists from 
Chili to California, he classified into hot and cold. 
Having collected the traditions of his country he gave 
us some curious accounts of the pearls of Cubagua, ob- 
jects of luxury which he treated with the utmost con- 
tempt. To show us how familiar to him were the sacred 
writings, he took a pride in reminding us that Job pre- 
ferred wisdom to the pearls of the Indies. After a long 
discourse on the emptiness of human grandeur, he drew 
from a leathern pouch a few very small opaque pearls, 
which he forced us to accept, enjoining upon us at the 
same time to notice on our tablets that a poor shoemaker 
of Araya, but a white man, and of noble Castilian race, 
had been enabled to give us something which, on the 
other side of the sea, was sought for as very precious. 



1799- MOUNTAINS OF NEW ANDALUSIA. 1 97 

I here acquit myself of the promise I made to this 
worthy man, who refused to accept of the slightest rec- 
ompense. 

When a traveller, newly arrived from Europe, pene- 
trates for the first time into the forests of South America, 
he beholds nature under an unexpected aspect. He feels 
at every step that he is not on the confines, but in the 
centre of the torrid zone ; not in one of the West India 
Islands, but on a vast continent where everything is gigan- 
tic, — mountains, rivers, and the mass of vegetation. If 
he feels deeply the beauty of picturesque scenery, he can 
scarcely distinguish what most excites his admiration, 
the deep silence of these solitudes, the individual beauty 
and contrast of forms, or that vigor and freshness of 
vegetable life which characterize the climate of the 
tropics. We walked for some hours under the shade of 
arcades which scarcely admit a glimpse of the sky ; the 
latter appeared to me of an indigo-blue, the deeper in 
shade because the green of the equinoctial plants is 
generally of a stronger hue, with somewhat of a brown- 
ish tint. In this place we were struck, for the first time, 
with the sight of those nests in the shape of bottles or 
small bags which are suspended from the branches of 
the lowest trees, and which attest the wonderful indus- 
try of the orioles, which mingle their warblings with the 
hoarse cries of the parrots and the maccaws. These last, 
so well known for their vivid colors, fly only in pairs, 
while the real parrots wander about in flocks of several 
hundreds. A man must have lived in those regions, 
particularly in the hot valleys of the Andes, to conceive 
how these birds sometimes drown with their voices the 
noise of the torrents which dash down from rock to 
rock. . . . 



ig8 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

The road skirted with bamboos led us to the small 
village of San Fernando, situated in a warm place, sur- 
rounded by very steep rocks. This was the first mission 
we saw in America. The missionary was a Capuchin, 
a native of Aragon, far advanced in years, but strong 
and healthy. His extreme corpulency, his hilarity, the 
interest he took in battles and sieges, ill accorded with 
the ideas we form in northern countries of the melan- 
choly reveries and the contemplative life of the mission- 
aries. Though extremely busy about a cow which was 
to be killed next day, the old monk received us with 
kindness and permitted us to hang up our hammocks in 
a gallery of his house. Seated, without doing anything 
the greater part of the day, in an arm-chair of redwood, 
he complained bitterly of what he called the indolence 
and ignorance of his countrymen. Our missionary, how- 
ever, seemed well satisfied with his situation ; he treated 
the Indians with mildness, he beheld his mission pros- 
per, and he praised with enthusiasm the waters, the 
bananas, and the dairy produce of the district. The 
sight of our instruments, our books, and our dried plants 
drew from him a sarcastic smile, and he acknowledged, 
with a naivete peculiar to the inhabitants of those 
countries that, of all the enjoyments of life, not except- 
ing sleep, none were comparable to the pleasure of 
eating good beef; thus does sensuality obtain an as- 
cendency where there is no occupation for the mind. 

The days we passed at the Capuchin convent in the 
mountains of Caripe glided swiftly away, though our 
manner of living was simple and uniform. From sun- 
rise to nightfall we traversed the forests and neighboring 
mountains to collect plants. When the winter rains 
prevented us from undertaking distant expeditions we 





4Wfe 'i*r 




BARON HUMBOLDT 



1799- THE CONVENT OF CARIPE. 1 99 

visited the huts of the Indians or those assemblies in 
which the alcaldes every evening arrange the labors of 
the succeeding day. We returned to the monastery only 
when the sound of the bell called us to the refectory to 
share the repast of the missionaries. Sometimes, early 
in the morning, we followed them to the church, to at- 
tend the doctrma, — that is to say, the religious instruc- 
tion of the Indians. It was rather a difficult task to 
explain dogmas to these neophytes, especially those who 
had but a very imperfect knowledge of the Spanish lan- 
guage. On the other hand, the monks are yet almost 
totally ignorant of the language of the Chaymas ; and 
the resembling sounds confuse the poor Indians, and 
suggest to them the most whimsical ideas. I saw a 
missionary laboring earnestly to prove that inferno, hell, 
and invierno, winter, were not one and the same thing. 
The Chaymas are acquainted with no other winter than 
the season of rains, and consequently they imagined the 
" hell of the whites " to be a place where the wicked are 
exposed to frequent showers. The missionary harangued 
to no purpose ; it was impossible to efface the first im- 
pression produced by the analogy between the two con- 
sonants. He could not separate in the mind of the 
neophyte the ideas of rain and hell. The same men who 
manifest quickness of intellect, and who are tolerably 
well acquainted with the Spanish, were unable to connect 
their ideas, when, in our excursions around the convent, 
we put questions to them through the intervention of 
the monks. They were made to affirm or deny whatever 
the monks pleased ; and that wily civility, to which the 
least cultivated Indian is no stranger, induced them some- 
times to give to their answers the turn that seemed to 
be suggested by our questions. Travellers cannot be 



200 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

enough on their guard against this officious assent when 
they seek to confirm their own opinions by the testimony 
of the natives. To put an Indian alcalde to the proof, I 
asked him one day whether he did not think the little 
river of Caripe, which issues from the cavern of the 
Guacharo, returned into it on the opposite side by some 
unknown entrance after having ascended the slope of 
the mountain. The Indian seemed greatly to reflect on 
the subject, and then answered, by way of supporting 
my hypothesis, " How else, if it were not so, would there 
always be water in the bed of the river, at the mouth of 
the cavern ? " 

We remained a month longer at Cumana, employing 
ourselves in the necessary preparations for our proposed 
visit to the Orinoco and the Rio Negro. We had to 
choose such instruments as could be most easily trans- 
ported in narrow boats, and to engage guides for an in- 
land journey of ten months, across a country without 
communication with the coasts. The astronomical de- 
termination of places being the most important object 
of this undertaking, I felt desirous not to miss the ob- 
servation of an eclipse of the sun which was to be 
visible at the end of October ; and in consequence I 
preferred remaining till that period at Cumana, where 
the sky is generally clear and serene. It was now too 
late to reach the banks of the Orinoco before October, 
and the high valleys of Caracas promised less favorable 
opportunities, on account of the vapors which accumu- 
late round the neighboring mountains. I was, however, 
near being compelled by a deplorable occurrence to re- 
nounce, or at least to delay for a long time, my journey 
to the Orinoco. On the 27th of October, the day before 
the eclipse, we went as usual to take the air on the shore 



1799- CUM AN A. 201 

of the gulf. It was eight in the evening, and the breeze 
was not yet stirring. The sky was cloudy, and during a 
dead calm it was excessively hot. 

We crossed the beach which separates the suburb of 
the Guayqueria Indians from the embarcadero. I heard 
some one walking behind us, and on turning I saw a 
tall man of the color of the Zambos, naked to the waist. 
He held almost over my head a great stick of palm-tree 
wood, enlarged to the end like a club. I avoided the 
stroke by leaping towards the left ; but M. Bonpland, 
who walked on my right, was less fortunate. He did 
not see the Zambo so soon as I did, and received a 
stroke above the temple, which levelled him with the 
ground. We were alone, without arms, half a league 
from any habitation, on a vast plain bounded by the 
sea. The Zambo, instead of attacking me, moved off 
slowly to pick up M. Bonpland's hat, which, having 
somewhat deadened the violence of the blow, had fallen 
off and lay at some distance. Alarmed at seeing my 
companion on the ground, and for some moments sense- 
less, I thought of him only. I helped him to raise him- 
self, and pain and anger doubled his strength. We ran 
towards the Zambo, who, either from cowardice, common 
enough in people of this caste, or because he perceived 
at a distance some men on the beach, did not wait for 
us, but ran off in the direction of the Tunal, a little 
thicket of cactus. He chanced to fall in running, and 
M. Bonpland, who reached him first, seized him round 
the body. The Zambo drew a large knife ; and in this 
unequal struggle we should infallibly have been wounded 
if some Biscayan merchants, who were taking the air on 
the beach, had not come to our assistance. The Zambo, 
seeing himself surrounded, thought no longer of defence. 



202 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

He again ran away, and we pursued him through the 
thorny cactuses. At length, tired out, he took shelter 
in a cow-house, whence he suffered himself to be quietly 
led to prison. M. Bonpland was seized with fever 
during the night ; but, being endowed with great energy 
and fortitude, and possessing that cheerful disposition 
which is one of the most precious gifts of nature, he 
continued his labors the next day. The inhabitants of 
Cumana showed us the kindest interest. It was ascer- 
tained that the Zambo was a native of one of the Indian 
villages which surround the great lake of Maracaibo. 
He had served on board a privateer belonging to the 
Island of St. Domingo, and in consequence of a quarrel 
with the captain he had been left on the coast of 
Cumana, when the ship quitted the port. Having seen 
the signal which we had fixed up for the purpose of 
observing the height of the tides, he had watched the 
moment when he could attack us on the beach. But 
why, after knocking one of us down, was he satisfied 
with simply stealing a hat ? In an examination he 
underwent his answers were so confused and stupid 
that it was impossible to clear up our doubts. Some- 
times he maintained that his intention was not to rob 
us ; but that, irritated by the bad treatment he had 
suffered on board the privateer of St. Domingo, he could 
not resist the desire of attacking us when he heard 
us speak French. Justice is so tardy in this country 
that prisoners, of whom the jail is full, may remain 
seven or eight years without being brought to trial ; we 
learned, therefore, with some satisfaction, that a few 
days after our departure from Cumana the Zambo had 
succeeded in breaking out of the castle. 

We quitted the shores of Cumana as if it had been 



1799- AROMATIC SHRUBS. 203 

our home. This was the first land we had trodden in a 
zone towards which my thoughts had been directed from 
earliest youth. There is a powerful charm in the im- 
pression produced by the scenery and climate of these 
regions, and after an abode of a few months we seemed 
to have lived there during a long succession of years. 

AROMATIC SHRUBS. 

We spent a long time in examining the fine resinous 
and fragrant plants of the Pejual. Wandering in this 
thick wood we suddenly found ourselves enveloped in a 
thick mist ; the compass alone could guide us ; but in 
advancing northward we were in danger at every step 
of finding ourselves on the bank of that enormous wall 
of rocks, which descends perpendicularly to the depth of 
six thousand feet towards the sea. We were obliged to 
halt. Surrounded by clouds sweeping the ground, we 
began to doubt whether we should reach the eastern 
peak before night. Happily the negroes who carried 
our water and provisions rejoined us, and we resolved 
to take some refreshment. Our repast did not last long. 
Possibly the Capuchin brother had not thought of the 
great number of persons who accompanied us, or per- 
haps the slaves had made free with our provisions on 
the way ; be that as it may, we found nothing but olives 
and scarcely any bread. Horace, in his retreat at 
Tibur, never boasted of a repast more light and frugal ; 
but olives, which might have offered a satisfactory meal 
to a poet, devoted to study, and leading a sedentary 
life, appeared an aliment by no means substantial for 
travellers climbing mountains. We had watched the 
greater part of the night, and we walked for nine hours 



204 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

without finding a single opening. Our guides were dis- 
couraged ; they wished to go back, and we had great 
difficulty in preventing them. We sent off half our 
servants with orders to hasten the next morning to 
meet us, not with olives, but with salt beef. 

COW-TREE. 

In returning from Porto Cabello to Aragua, we 
stopped at the farm of Barbula, near which a new 
road to Valencia is in the course of construction. We 
had heard several weeks before of a tree, the sap of 
which is a nourishing milk. It is called the cow-tree, 
and we were assured that the negroes of the farm, who 
drink plentifully of this vegetable milk, consider it a 
wholesome aliment. It was offered to us in a calabash. 
We drank considerable quantities of it in the evening 
before we went to bed, and very early in the morning, 
without feeling the least injurious effect. Among the 
great number of curious phenomena which I have ob- 
served in the course of my travels, I confess there are 
few that have made so powerful an impression on me 
as the aspect of the cow-tree. It is at the rising of the 
sun that this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The 
negroes and natives are seen hastening from all quar- 
ters, furnished with large bowls to receive the milk, 
which grows yellow and thickens at the surface ; some 
empty their bowls under the tree itself, others carry the 
juice home to their children. 

HOWLING MONKEYS. 

Before I trace the scenery of the llanos I will briefly 
describe the road we took from Nueva Valencia, 



1799- HOWLING MONKEYS. 205 

to the little village of Ortiz, at the entrance of the 
steppes. We left the valley of Aragua on the 6th of 
March before sunrise. We passed over a plain richly 
cultivated, keeping along the southwest side, by the 
lake of Valencia, and crossing the ground left uncovered 
by the waters of the lake. We were never weary of 
admiring the fertility of the soil, covered with cala- 
bashes, water-melons, and plantains. The rising of the 
sun was announced by the distant noise of the howling 
monkeys. Approaching a group of trees which rise in 
the midst of the plain, between those parts which were 
anciently the islets of Don Pedro and La Negra, we saw 
numerous bands of Araguatos moving as in procession, 
and very slowly, from one tree to another. A male was 
followed by a great number of females, several of the 
latter carrying their young on their shoulders. The 
howling monkeys, which live in society in different parts 
of America, everywhere resemble each other in their 
manners, though the species are not always the same. 
Wherever the branches of the neighboring trees do not 
touch each other, the male who leads the party suspends 
himself by the callous part of his tail, and, letting fall 
the rest of his body, swings himself till he reaches the 
neighboring branch. The whole file performs the same 
movements in the same spot. It is almost superfluous 
to add how dubious is the assertion of Ulloa, and so 
many otherwise well-informed travellers, according to 
whom the monkeys with a prehensile tail form a sort of 
chain, in order to reach the opposite side of a river. 
We had opportunities during five years of observing 
thousands of these animals, and for this very reason we 
place no confidence in statements possibly invented by 
Europeans themselves, though repeated by the Indians 



206 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

of the missions, as if they had been transmitted to them 
by their fathers. Man, the most remote from civiliza- 
tion, enjoys the astonishment he excites in relating the 
marvels of his country. He says he has seen what he 
imagines may have been seen by another. Every savage 
is a hunter, and the stories of hunters borrow from 
imagination in proportion as the animals of which they 
boast the artifices are endowed with a high degree of 
intelligence. 

FINDING WATER. 

After having passed two weary nights on horseback, 
and having sought in vain by day for some shelter from 
the heat of the sun, we arrived before night at the little 
Hato del Caymen, 1 called also La Guadaloupe. It was 
a solitary house in the steppes, surrounded by a few 
small huts covered with reeds and skins. The cattle, 
oxen, horses, and mules are not penned, but wander 
freely over an extent of several square leagues. There 
is nowhere any enclosure ; men, naked to the waist and 
armed with a lance, ride over the savannahs to inspect 
the animals, bringing back those that wander too far 
from the pastures of the farm, and branding all that do 
not bear the mark of their proprietor. These mulattoes, 
who are known by the name of peones Ilaneros, are partly 
freedmen and partly slaves. Their food is meat dried 
in the air and a little salted, and of this even their 
horses sometimes partake. Being always in the saddle, 
they fancy they cannot make the slightest exertion on 
foot. We found an old negro slave, who managed the 
farm in the absence of his master. He told us of herds 
of several thousand cows that were grazing on the 

1 " Farm of the Alligator." 



1799- FINDING WATER. 20"J 

steppes, yet we asked in vain for a bowl of milk. We 
were offered in a calabash some yellow, muddy, and 
fetid water drawn from a neighboring pool. The indo- 
lence of the inhabitants of the llanos is such that they 
do not dig wells though they know that almost every- 
where, at ten feet deep, fine springs are found in a 
stratum of red sandstone. After suffering one half the 
year from the effects of inundations, they quietly resign 
themselves during the other half to the most distressing 
deprivation of water. The old negro advised us to 
cover the cup with a linen cloth and drink as through a 
filter, that we might not be incommoded by the smell, 
and might swallow less of the yellowish mud deposited in 
the water. We did not then think that we should after- 
wards be forced during whole months to have recourse 
to this expedient. The waters of the Orinoco are always 
loaded with earthy particles ; they are even putrid, where 
dead bodies of alligators are found in the creeks, lying 
on beds of sand, or half-buried in the mud. 

No sooner were our instruments safely placed than 
our mules were set at liberty to go, as they say here, 
" to search for water." There are little pools round the 
farm which the animals find, guided by their instinct, by 
the view of some scattered tufts of mauritia, and by the 
sense of humid coolness caused by little currents of air 
amid an atmosphere which to us appears calm and tran- 
quil. When the pools of water are far distant, and the 
people of the farm are too lazy to lead the cattle to 
these natural watering places, they confine them during 
five or six hours in a very hot stable before they let 
them loose. Excess of thirst then augments their saga- 
city, sharpening as it were their senses and their instinct. 
No sooner is the stable opened than the horses and 



208 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

mules rush into the savannahs. With upraised tails 
and heads thrown back they run against the wind, stop- 
ping from time to time as if exploring space ; they follow 
less the impressions of sight than of smell, and at length 
announce, by prolonged neighings, that there is water 
in the direction of their course. 



ELECTRICAL EELS. 

Having obtained very uncertain results from an 
electric eel which had been brought to us alive, but 
much enfeebled, we repaired to the Cano de Bera, to 
make our experiments in the open air, and at the edge 
of the water. The Indians told us that they would 
" fish with horses " (embarbascar con caballos). 1 We 
found it difficult to form an idea of this extraordinary 
manner of fishing, but we soon saw our guides return 
from the savannah, which they had been scouring for 
wild horses and mules. They brought about thirty with 
them, which they forced to enter the pool. The ex- 
traordinary noise caused by the horses' hoofs makes the 
fish issue from the mud, and excites them to the attack. 
These yellowish and livid eels, resembling aquatic ser- 
pents, swim on the surface of the water, and crowd 
under the bellies of the horses. A contest between 
animals of so different an organization presents a very 
striking spectacle. The Indians, provided with har- 
poons and long, slender reeds, surround the pool closely, 
and some climb up the trees, the branches of which ex- 
tend over the water. By their wild cries and the length 
of their reeds they prevent the horses from running 
away and reaching the bank of the pool. The eels, 

1 Excite the fish with horses. 



1799- CROCODILES. 2<X) 

stunned by the noise, defend themselves by the repeated 
discharge of their electric batteries. For a long interval 
they seem likely to prove victorious. Several horses 
sink beneath the violence of the invisible strokes which 
they receive from all sides, in organs the most essential 
to life, and, stunned by the force and frequency of the 
shocks, they disappear under the water. In less than 
five minutes two of our horses were drowned. The eel, 
being five feet long, and pressing itself against the 
belly of the horses, makes a discharge along the whole 
extent of its electric organ. It is natural that the effect 
felt by the horses should be more powerful than that 
produced upon man by the touch of the same fish at 
only one of his extremities. The horses are probably 
not killed, but only stunned. They are drowned from 
the impossibility of rising amid the prolonged struggle 
between the other horses and the eels. 

We had little doubt that the fishing would end by 
killing successively all the animals engaged, but by de- 
grees the impetuosity of this unequal combat diminished 
and the wearied gymnoti dispersed. They require a 
long rest and abundant nourishment to repair the gal- 
vanic force which they have lost. In a few minutes we 
had five large eels, most of which were but slightly 
wounded. 

CROCODILES. 

The Indians told us that at San Fernando scarcely a 
year passes without two or three grown-up persons, par- 
ticularly women who fetch water from the river, being 
drowned by the crocodiles. They related to us the 
history of a young girl of Uritucu, who, by singular 
intrepidity and presence of mind, saved herself from the 

H 



2IO STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

jaws of a crocodile. When she felt herself seized she 
sought the eyes of the animal and plunged her fingers 
into them with such violence that the pain forced the 
crocodile to let her go, after having bitten off the lower 
part of her left arm. The girl, notwithstanding the 
enormous quantity of blood she lost, reached the shore, 
swimming with the hand that still remained to her. In 
those desert countries, where man is ever wrestling with 
nature, discourse daily turns on the best means that 
may be employed to escape from a tiger, a boa, or a 
crocodile ; every one prepares himself in some sort for 
the dangers that may await him. " I knew," said the 
young girl of Uritucu coolly, " that the cayman lets go 
his hold if you push your fingers into his eyes." Long 
after my return to Europe I learned that in the interior 
of Africa the negroes know and practise the same 
means of defence. Who does not recollect, with lively 
interest, Isaac, the guide of the unfortunate Mungo 
Park, who was seized twice by a crocodile, and twice 
escaped from the jaws of the monster, having succeeded 
in thrusting his fingers into the creature's eyes while 
under water. 

JAGUARS. 

Near the Joval nature assumes an awful and ex- 
tremely wild aspect. We there saw the largest jaguar 
we had ever met with. The natives themselves were 
astonished at its prodigious length, which surpassed 
that of any Bengal tiger I had ever seen in the mu- 
seums of Europe. The animal lay stretched beneath 
the shade of a large zamang. 1 It had just killed a 
chiguire, but had not yet touched its prey, on which it 

1 A species of mimosa. 



1799. JAGUARS. 211 

kept one of its paws. The vultures were assembled in 
great numbers to devour the remains of the jaguar's re- 
past. They presented the most curious spectacle ; by a 
singular mixture of boldness and timidity they advanced 
within the distance of two feet from the animal, but at 
the least movement he made they drew back. In order 
to observe more nearly the manners of these creatures 
we went into the little skiff that accompanied our canoe. 
Tigers very rarely attack boats by swimming to them, 
and never but when their ferocity is heightened by a 
long privation of food. The noise of our oars led the 
animal to rise slowly and hide itself behind the bushes 
that bordered the shore. The vultures tried to profit 
by this moment of absence to devour the chiguire, but 
the tiger leaped into the midst of them, and in a fit of 
rage, expressed by his gait and the movement of his tail, 
carried off his prey to the forest. 

We passed the night in the open air, in a plantation, the 
proprietor of which employed himself in hunting tigers. 
He wore scarcely any clothing, and was of a dark brown 
complexion like a Zambo. This did not prevent his 
classing himself amongst the whites. He called his 
wife and daughter Doha Isabella and Dona Manuela. 
Without having ever quitted the banks of the Apure, he 
took a lively interest in the news of Madrid, enquiring 
eagerly respecting " those never-ending wars and every- 
thing down yonder" (todas las cosas de alia). He knew, 
he said, that the king was soon to come and visit " the 
grandees of the country of Caracas," but he added with 
some pleasantry, " as the people of the court can eat 
only wheaten bread, they will never pass beyond the 
town of Victoria, and we shall not see them here." I 
had brought with me a chiguire, which I had intended 



212 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

to have roasted, but our host assured us that such " In- 
dian game " was not food fit for " nos otros caballeros 
blancos " (white gentlemen like ourselves and him). 
Accordingly he offered us some venison which he had 
killed the day before with an arrow, for he had neither 
powder nor fire-arms. We supposed that a small wood 
of plantain-trees concealed from us the hut of the farm ; 
but this man, so proud of his nobility and the color of 
his skin, had not taken the trouble of constructing even 
a hut of palm-leaves. He invited us to have our ham- 
mocks hung near his own, between two trees ; and he 
assured us, with an air of complacency, that if we came 
up the river in the rainy season we should find him be- 
neath a roof. We soon had reason to complain of a 
system of philosophy which is indulgent to indolence, 
and renders a man indifferent to the conveniences of 
life. A furious wind arose after midnight, lightnings 
flashed over the horizon, thunder rolled, and we were 
wet to the skin. During this storm a whimsical incident 
served to amuse us for a moment. Dona Isabella's cat 
had perched upon the tamarind-tree, at the foot of which 
we lay. It fell into the hammock of one of our com- 
panions, who, being hurt by the claws of the cat, and 
suddenly aroused from a profound sleep, imagined he 
was attacked by some wild beast of the forest. We ran 
to him on hearing his cries, and had some trouble to 
convince him of his error. While it rained in torrents 
on our hammocks and on our instruments which we had 
brought ashore, Don Ignatio congratulated us on our 
good fortune in not sleeping on the shore, but finding 
ourselves in his domain, among whites and persons of 
respectability. Wet as we were, we could not easily 
persuade ourselves of the advantages of our situation, 



1799 A COMFORTABLE NIGHT. 21 3 

and we listened with some impatience to the long nar- 
rative our host gave us of his pretended expedition to 
the Rio Meta, of the valor he had displayed in a san- 
guinary combat with the Guahibo Indians, and "the 
services that he had rendered to God and the king, in 
carrying away Indian children from their parents to dis- 
tribute them in the missions." We were struck with the 
singularity of finding in that vast solitude a man believ- 
ing himself to be of European race, and knowing no 
other shelter than the shade of a tree, and yet having 
all the vain pretensions, hereditary prejudices, and 
errors of long-standing civilization ! 



A COMFORTABLE NIGHT. 

On the 1st of April, at sunrise, we quitted Senor Don 
Ignatio and Sehora Dona Isabella, his wife. . . . Beyond 
the Vuelta del Cochino Roto, in a spot where the river 
has scooped itself a new bed, we passed the night on a 
bare and very extensive beach. The forest being im- 
penetrable we had the greatest difficulty in finding dry 
wood to light fires, near which the Indians believe them- 
selves in safety from the nocturnal attacks of the tiger. 
The night was calm and serene, and there was a beauti- 
ful moonlight. The crocodiles, stretched along the 
shore, placed themselves in such a manner as to be 
able to see the light. We thought we saw that its blaze 
attracted them, as it attracts crayfish, and other inhab- 
itants of the water. The Indians showed us the tracks 
of three tigers in the sand, two of which were very 
young. A female had no doubt conducted her little 
ones to drink at the river. Finding no tree on the 
strand, we stuck our oars in the ground, and to these 



214 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799 

we fastened our hammocks. Everything passed tran- 
quilly till eleven at night, and then a noise so terrific 
arose in the neighboring forest that it was almost im- 
possible to close our eyes. Amid the cries of so many 
wild beasts howling at once, the Indians discriminated 
such only as were at intervals heard separately. These 
were the soft little cries of the sapajous, the moans of 
the alouate apes, the howlings of the jaguar and cou- 
guar, the peccary, and the sloth, and the cries of the 
curassao, the parraka, and other gallinaceous birds. 
When the jaguars approached the skirt of the forest 
our dog, which till then had never ceased barking, 
began to howl and seek for shelter beneath our ham- 
mocks. Sometimes, after a long silence, the cry of the 
tiger came from the tops of the trees, and then it was 
followed by the sharp and long whistling of the monkeys, 
which appeared to flee from the danger which threat- 
ened them. We heard the same noises repeated 
during the course of whole months, whenever the forest 
approached the bed of the river. The security evinced 
by the Indians inspires confidence in the minds of 
travellers, who readily persuade themselves that the 
tigers do not attack a man lying in his hammock. 
When the natives are interrogated on the causes of 
the tremendous noise made by the beasts of the forest 
at certain hours of the night, the answer is, " They are 
keeping the feast of the full moon." I believe this 
agitation is most frequently the effect of some conflict 
that has arisen in the depths of the forest. The jag- 
uars, for instance, pursue the peccaries and the tapirs, 
which, having no defence but in their numbers, flee in 
close troops, and break down the bushes they find in 
their way. Terrified at this struggle, the timid and mis- 



1799- A PLEASANT WALK. 21$ 

trustful monkeys answer, from the tops of the trees, the 
cries of the large animals. They awaken the birds that 
live in society, and by degrees the whole assembly is in 
commotion. It is not always in a fine moonlight, but 
more particularly at the time of a storm and violent 
showers that this tumult takes place among the wild 
beasts. " May Heaven grant them a quiet night and 
repose, and us also ! " said the monk who accompanied 
us to the Rio Negro, when, sinking with fatigue, he 
assisted in arranging our accommodations for the night. 

A PLEASANT WALK. 

We stopped at noon in a desert spot called Algodonal. 
I left my companions while they drew the boat ashore 
and were occupied in preparing our dinner. I went 
along the shore to get a near view of a group of croco- 
diles sleeping in the sun, and lying in such a manner as 
to have their tails, which were furnished with broad 
plates, resting on one another. This excursion had 
nearly proved fatal to me. I had kept my eyes con- 
stantly fixed towards the river ; but, whilst picking up 
some spangles of mica agglomerated together in the 
sand, I discovered the recent footsteps of a tiger, easily 
distinguishable from their form and size. The animal 
had gone towards the forest, and turning my eyes on 
that side I found myself within eighty paces of a jaguar 
that was lying under the thick foliage of a ceiba. No 
tiger ever appeared to me so large. There are accidents 
in life against which we may seek in vain to fortify our 
reason. I was extremely alarmed, yet sufficiently master 
of myself and of my motions to enable me to follow the 
advice which the Indians had so often given us as to 



2l6 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

how we ought to act in such cases. I continued to walk 
on without running, avoided moving my arms, and I 
thought I observed that the jaguar's attention was fixed 
on a herd of capybaras which was crossing the river. I 
then began to return, making a large circuit towards the 
edge of the water. As the distance increased I thought 
I might accelerate my pace. How often was I tempted 
to look back in order to assure myself that I was not 
pursued ! Happily I yielded very tardily to this desire. 
The jaguar had remained motionless. These enormous 
cats with spotted robes are so well fed in countries 
abounding in capybaras, peccaries, and deer that they 
rarely attack men. I arrived at the boat out of breath, 
and related my adventure to the Indians. They ap- 
peared very little interested by my story; yet, after 
having loaded our guns, they accompanied us to the 
ceiba beneath which the jaguar had lain. He was there 
no longer, and it would have been imprudent to have 
pursued him into the forest, where we must have dis- 
persed, or advanced in single file, amidst the intertwining 
lianas. 

ONE-EYED MEN. 

Beyond the Great Cataracts of the Orinoco an un- 
known land begins. It is partly mountainous, receiv- 
ing at once the confluents of the Amazon and the 
Orinoco. We found but three Christian establishments 
above the Great Cataracts, along the shore of the Ori- 
noco, in an extent of more than a hundred leagues; and 
these three establishments contained scarcely six or 
eight white persons, that is to say, persons of European 
race. We cannot be surprised that such a desert region 
should have been at all times the land of fable and fairy 



1799- PLAGUE OF FLIES. 21J 

visions. There, according to the statements of certain 
missionaries, are found races of men, some of whom 
have eyes in the centre of the forehead, while others 
have dogs' heads, and mouths below the stomachs. 
There they pretend to have found all that the ancients 
relate of the Garamantes, of the Arimaspes, and of the 
Hyperboreans. It would be an error to suppose that 
these simple and often rustic missionaries had them- 
selves invented all these exaggerated fictions ; they de- 
rived them in great part from the recitals of the Indians. 
A fondness for narration prevails in the missions, as it 
does at sea, in the East, and in every place where the 
mind seeks amusement. A missionary, from his voca- 
tion, is not inclined to scepticism ; he imprints on his 
memory what the natives have so often repeated to him, 
and when returned to Europe and restored to the 
civilized world he finds a pleasure in creating astonish- 
ment by a recital of facts which he thinks he has col- 
lected, and by animated description of remote things. 
These stories, which the Spanish colonists call " tales of 
travellers and of monks," increase in improbability in 
proportion as you increase your distance from the 
forests of the Orinoco, and approach the coasts inhab- 
ited by the whites. When at Cumana, Nueva Barcelona, 
and other seaports which have frequent communication 
with the missions, if you betray any sign of incredulity, 
you are reduced to silence by these few words : " The 
fathers have seen it, but far above the Great Cataracts." 

PLAGUE OF FLIES. 

Persons who have not navigated the great rivers of 
equinoctial America, for instance, the Orinoco and the 
Magdalena, can scarcely conceive how, at every instant, 



218 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1799. 

without intermission, you may be tormented by insects 
flying in the air, and how the multitude of these little 
animals may render vast regions almost uninhabitable. 
Whatever fortitude be exercised to endure pain without 
complaint, whatever interest may be felt in the objects 
of scientific research, it is impossible not to be constantly 
disturbed by the mosquitos, zancudos, jejens, and tem- 
praneros, that cover the face and hands, pierce the 
clothes with their long, needle-formed suckers, and 
getting into the mouth and nostrils occasion coughing 
and sneezing whenever any attempt is made to speak in 
the open air. In the missions of Orinoco, in the villages 
on the banks of the river, surrounded by immense 
forests, the plaga de las moscas, or the plague of the 
mosquitos, affords an inexhaustible subject of conversa- 
tion. When two persons meet in the morning the first 
questions they address to each other are : " How did 
you find the zancudos during the night ? How are we 
to-day for the mosquitos ?"..." How comfortable 
must people be in the moon ! " said a Salive Indian to 
Father Gumilla. " She looks so beautiful and so clear 
that she must be free from mosquitos." . . . 

INTERLOCKED RIVERS. 

During the night we had left the waters of the Ori- 
noco, and at sunrise found ourselves as if transported 
to a new country, on the banks of a river the name of 
which we had scarcely ever heard pronounced, and 
which was to conduct us by the portage of Pimichin to 
the Rio Negro, on the frontiers of Brazil. " You will 
go up," said the president of the missions, who resides 
at San Fernando, "first the Atabapo, then the Temi, 



1799- INTERLOCKED RIVERS. 2IQ 

and finally the Tuamini. When the force of the current 
of ' black waters ' hinders you from advancing you will 
be conducted out of the bed of the river through forests 
which you will find inundated. Two monks only are 
settled in those desert places between the Orinoco and 
the Rio Negro, but at Javita you will be furnished with 
the means of having your canoe drawn overland in the 
course of four days to Cano Pimichin. If it be not 
broken to pieces you will descend the Rio Negro without 
any obstacle, as far as the little fort of San Carlos ; you 
will go up the Cassiguiare, and then return to San Fer- 
nando in a month, descending the upper Orinoco from 
east to west." Such was the plan traced for our pas- 
sage, and we carried it into effect without danger, though 
not without some suffering, in the space of thirty-three 
days. 



X. 

A YOUNG MAN'S VOYAGE. 

" T TNCLE FRITZ," said Horace, " why did you say, 

V' when we were talking of Humboldt, that those 
were the days of boys?" 

" Oh, my boy, I am very sorry I said so, if it seemed 
as if those were more the days of boys than these are. 
There were never times when young men, well trained, 
came to the front more readily than they do now. What 
I meant to say was, that in just that period of the Na- 
poleon wars, old things had been so thoroughly broken 
up that boys had chances they had not fifty years before. 
Those boys have since become old men. They have 
written their lives and adventures, and so there is a litera- 
ture of that time about the adventures of youngsters, 
which we do not have of earlier times, and cannot, as yet, 
have of later. 

" Will you go into Lady Oliver's sitting-room, take the 
steps, and look along the books at C till you find two 
little volumes of Cleveland's Travels?" 

Horace found the book in a moment. It is a miscel- 
laneous collection in that room, and they catalogue them- 
selves by the convenient way, for such a collection, of 
standing in alphabetical order of the authors. 

" Now, here," continued Uncle Fritz, " is a charming 
little book of adventures, written at the end of life by a 



1797- A YOUNG MAN'S VOYAGE. 221 

gentleman who was sent out from Salem very young, in 
command of a vessel which was to go to Mocha for coffee. 
But they stopped at Havre, in France, first. There the 
vessel was recalled, and poor Cleveland found himself in a 
strange port without an adventure. 

" What does he do but make one. He bought a little 
Dover packet-boat of thirty-eight tons. Packet-boats be- 
tween Dover and Calais were not worth much when 
France was at war with England. He had fifteen hundred 
dollars with which to buy a cargo. Two friends contrib- 
uted each a thousand, on condition that all three should 
share equally when the voyage was over. This little vessel 
he meant to take to the Island of Bourbon, knowing well 
what that market required. See what happened to him." 

A VOYAGE WITH FOUR SAILORS. 

The difficulty of procuring men seemed to increase 
with each additional day's detention. Those whom I 
engaged one day would desert the next, alarmed by some 
exaggerated story of our first attempt. In the course of 
three weeks I shipped no less than four different men as 
mates, and as many different crews, and each in turn 
abandoned me. At length I procured an active and 
capable young seaman from a Nantucket ship, one whom 
the captain recommended, as mate, and another man and 
a boy in addition to George, who had held true to his 
engagement. I was desirous of procuring one more, but 
my attempt to do so was unsuccessful, and, fearing that by 
any delay for this purpose I might lose those already on 
board, I sailed immediately. 

Our expedition had become a subject of general con- 
versation in the town, and the difficulty of getting away 



222 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1797. 

the Indiaman (as she was called) was known to every one. 
The day, therefore, that we sailed the pier-head was again 
thronged with people, who cheered us as we passed by, 
wishing us "un bon voyage," but no small portion of 
them considered us as bound to certain destruction. It 
was now the 21st day of December, a season of the year 
when the loss of a few hours only of the easterly wind 
then blowing might be attended with disagreeable, if not 
disastrous consequences. We therefore set all our sail 
to improve it, and, while making rapid progress towards 
the channel, were brought to by a British frigate, com- 
manded by Sir R. Strachan. The boarding officer was 
very civil. He declared our enterprise to be a very daring 
one, caused us as little detention as possible, and, return- 
ing to his ship, immediately made the signal that we might 
proceed. 

It was soon very evident that no person on board, ex- 
cepting the mate and myself, was capable of performing 
the very common and indispensable business of steering ; 
and though there was no doubt our men would soon learn, 
yet, in the mean time, we had the prospect before us of a 
tedious, though not very laborious course of duty. As the 
wind continued to be favorable, our passage down the 
Channel was easy and expeditious, and the day after leaving 
Havre we passed by and in sight of the Island of Ushant. 
We were now in a position to feel the full effect of the 
westerly gales, which are so prevalent at this season of the 
year ; and in order to have plenty of sea-room in case of 
encountering one, I directed a course to be steered which 
should carry us wide of Cape Ortegal. . . . 

A sufficient time had now elapsed since leaving Havre 
(it being the third day) to give me a very tolerable knowl- 
edge of my crew, whose characters, peculiarities, and 



r797- GEORGE AT THE HELM. 223 

accomplishments were such that a sketch of them may 
not be without interest to the reader. My mate, Reuben 
Barnes, was a young man of nineteen or twenty, who, 
having been engaged in the whale-fishery, had profited by 
that excellent school to acquire not only the knowledge 
of the seaman's profession, but also enough of the 
mechanic arts to fish a spar with dexterity, to caulk a 
seam, or to make a bucket or a barrel. The intelligence, 
activity, watchfulness, and adroitness of this young man 
relieved me from much anxiety and care, and in his con- 
duct with me he evinced all the steadiness and fidelity 
which the recommendation he brought, as well as the 
place of his birth, had led me to expect. 

Decidedly the most important personage of my foremast 
hands was the black man, George, who had dared to em- 
bark on our second voyage, after having shared in the 
disasters of the first. In his capacity and dialect, George 
was the veriest negro that can be imagined. For honesty, 
fidelity, and courage he may have been equalled, but can 
never have been surpassed. He stood about six feet and 
three inches, was rather slender, very awkward, and of a 
much more sable hue than common, but with an expression 
of countenance mild and pleasing. With simplicity of 
character approximating to folly, he united a degree of 
self-conceit which led him to believe that he could do 
whatever could be done by another, and, in some cases, 
to suppose he could make great improvements, — an in- 
stance of which occurred before we had been out a week. 
In his previous voyages George had been cook, and had 
therefore nothing to do with the compass ; but now, having 
to take his regular turn at steering, he was greatly puzzled 
with its unsteadiness. He could steer in the night with 
tolerable accuracy, by giving him a star by which to steer, 



224 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1797. 

but the compass appeared to him to be calculated only to 
embarrass. With a view of remedying this difficulty 
George had taken off the cover to the till of his chest, on 
which, having marked the points of the compass, and 
pierced a hole in the centre for the pivot, he brought it 
aft, and with great appearance of complacency and ex- 
pectation of applause, placed it on deck before the helms- 
man, with the proper point directed forward to correspond 
with the course, and then exclaimed : " Dair, massa, dat 
compass be teady. George teer by him well as any- 
body." 

But this simplicity and conceit was more than redeemed 
by his tried fidelity and heroic courage, of which the fol- 
lowing is a remarkable instance : George had been a slave 
to some planter in Savannah ; and one day, being in the 
woods with his master, they encountered an Indian, who 
was hunting. Some dispute arising, the Indian, having 
the advantage of being armed, threatened to shoot them. 
In consequence of this threat they seized him and took 
away his gun, but after a little while, and with urgent 
entreaties and fair promises from him, they were induced 
to return it, first taking the precaution to dip it into water 
to prevent an immediate use of it. This served again to 
rouse the anger of the Indian, who immediately took the 
readiest means for drying it. In the mean time George 
and his master had entered a canoe, and, pursuing their 
way in a narrow river or creek, had got a long distance 
from the spot where they had left the Indian, when, on 
looking back, they perceived him running after them on 
the bank. On arriving abreast of them he immediately 
took aim, which George perceiving threw himself as a 
shield between his master and the ball, and was so severely 
wounded that his life was for many weeks despaired of. 



1797* FRENCH AND GERMAN. 225 

After a confinement of six months he entirely recovered, 
and, as a reward, his master gave him his liberty. 

At the time he engaged with me he had been a sailor 
about two years, and had been so invariably cheated out 
of his wages that he had no other means of clothing him- 
self than the advance I paid him. Such treatment had 
been productive of a tinge of misanthropy, and it was 
not until after long acquaintance that he gave me his 
entire confidence. As this acquaintance continued for 
many years (even as long as he lived), and as he was a 
sharer of my various adventures, I shall have frequent 
occasion to mention his name in connection with my own 
while narrating them. 

My other man had been a Prussian grenadier. He had 
served in the army of the Duke of Brunswick at the time 
of his invading Holland to restore the authority of the 
Stadtholder, and in other campaigns ; but having a dislike 
to the profession, he had deserted, and had been about 
eighteen months a sailor in English vessels. During this 
time he had not acquired such a knowledge of steering 
that we could leave him at the helm without watching 
him, and however brave he may have been in the ranks, 
he was the veriest coward imaginable when called to the 
performance of duties aloft. In addition to this incapacity 
he possessed a most ungovernable temper ; and, being a 
powerful man, we had considerable difficulty in keeping 
him at all times in a state of subordination, — a difficulty 
which was in some degree augmented by his very imper- 
fect knowledge of our language and the consequent em- 
barrassment he found in making himself understood. 

The last as well as the least of our members was a little 
French boy of fourteen years, who possessed all the 
vivacity peculiar to his countrymen, and who, having been 

15 



226 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1797. 

some time on board the Carmagnole and other privateers, 
had acquired many of the tricks of a finished man-of- 
war's man. Some months' residence in an English prison 
had given him the command of a few English words, but 
they were not of a selection that indicated much care in 
the teacher. 

It was not uncommon for George, the Prussian grenadier, 
and the French boy to get into a warm debate on the 
relative merits of their respective countries, for they were 
all men of great vivacity and patriotism ; and sometimes 
(probably from not understanding each other) they would 
become so angry as to render it necessary for the mate to 
interfere to restore tranquillity. At such moments I used 
to think that if Hogarth could have been an observer his 
genius would have done justice to the group. It may 
fairly be presumed, however, that such a ship's company, 
for an India voyage, was never before seen, and, moreover, 
that we " ne'er shall look upon its like again." 

For several days after passing the Isle of Ushant, the 
wind was light from northwest and west-northwest, ac- 
companied with a heavy swell from that quarter, and 
though our progress was in consequence slow, it was pro- 
portionally comfortable. Before we had reached the lati- 
tude of Cape Finisterre the light wind, before which we 
had been sailing with all our canvas spread, died away, 
and left us some hours becalmed. During this time one 
of our pigs had got overboard and was swimming away 
from the vessel. George, being an excellent swimmer, did 
not hesitate to go after him ; but when he had caught 
him, at the distance from us of about twenty fathoms, a 
light puff of wind, termed by seamen a cat's-paw, took 
the sails aback, and suddenly increased our distance from 
George, who perceiving it and becoming alarmed let go 



1798. AN ENGLISH FRIGATE. 227 

the pig and swam for the vessel, crying out lustily, as he 
approached, " I dead, I dead ! " As he had not been long 
in the water, nor used such exertion as to cause extraor- 
dinary exhaustion, I was apprehensive that he might be 
attacked by a shark. We threw towards him a spar and 
set immediately about clearing away the boat, but before 
we could be ready to launch it George had seized the 
spar, and, by its aid, had succeeded in getting alongside. 
When taken on board he did not hesitate to express his 
belief that our going from him was intentional, and that, 
had the breeze continued, we should have left him for the 
purpose of saving his wages. Nor was it until after long 
experience, and repeatedly receiving his wages when due, 
that he would acknowledge that he had judged me 
erroneously. 

The day succeeding this adventure we had another, 
which nearly brought our voyage to a close. Early in the 
morning we fell in with the British frigate, Stag. The 
wind was so light and its influence on the manoeuvres of 
the ship so counteracted by a deep and hollow swell that, 
getting sternway, her counter came in contact with our 
broadside with a tremendous force, which threatened 
immediate destruction, and which must have been the 
result but for the order instantly given and obeyed to " fill 
away." This saved us from a second shock, and we were 
happy to perceive we had received no other damage than 
that of breaking the rail. The officer of the frigate very 
politely offered to send their carpenter on board to repair 
this, but I declined, from my desire of not losing a mo- 
ment's time in advancing towards those latitudes where 
gales of wind were of less frequent occurrence. When 
we were released from this visit the mate immediately set 
about exercising his ingenuity as carpenter; and, with 



228 STORIES OF ADVENTURE 1798. 

great application, he completed the repairs, in a work- 
manlike manner, on the third day after meeting the acci- 
dent. 

We had now advanced far into the second week of our 
departure. The wind, though light, was fair, and the pros- 
pect was favorable for the continuance of good weather. 
These encouraging circumstances led me to hope that we 
should reach the tropical latitudes without encountering a 
gale, and also without meeting what was more to be 
dreaded, any one of those Spanish or French privateers, 
which had frequented the track we were passing, and 
whose conduct, in many instances, to defenceless mer- 
chant vessels had nearly equalled that of the ancient buc- 
caneers. 

We had passed by many vessels, but had carefully 
avoided speaking with any one. At length, on a very fine 
morning, as the sun rose, and when we were about fifty 
leagues west of Cadiz, we perceived a small sail in the 
northwest. At ten o'clock she was equally plain to be 
seen, and by noon we were satisfied she was in chase of, 
and was gaining on us. We kept steadily on our course, 
hoping that an increase of wind would give us an advan- 
tage, or that some other object might divert their atten- 
tion. But our hopes were fallacious. The wind rather 
decreased, and when this was the case we observed she 
appeared to approach us faster. By two o'clock we per- 
ceived she had lateen sails, and hence had no doubt of 
her being a privateer. Soon after she began to fire at us, 
but the balls fell much short. As the wind continued very 
light it was soon apparent that we could not escape, as we 
perceived that her progress was accelerated by means of a 
multitude of sweeps. To run any longer would only have 
been incurring the risk of irritating the captain of the 



1798. A PRIVATEER. 229 

buccaneer ; we therefore rounded to and prepared to be 
plundered. 

As they came up with us, about five o'clock, they gave 
such a shout of " Bonne prise ! bonne prise ! " as would 
be expected from banditti subject to no control ; but I 
felt considerable relief in the persuasion that, as their flag 
indicated, they were French, and not Spanish. After the 
shouting had ceased I was ordered, in very coarse terms, 
to hoist out my boat and come on board with my papers. 
I replied that I had not men sufficient to put out the boat. 
The order was reiterated, accompanied with a threat of 
firing into us. I then sent my men below and waited the 
result, which was that they got out their own boat. The 
officer who came on board I suppose to have been the 
captain himself, from the circumstance of his being a very 
intelligent man, and from my presence not being required 
on board the privateer. A cursory examination of our 
papers convinced him of our neutral character, and the 
exhibition of a passport, with a seal and signature of one 
high in authority in the French government, while it aston- 
ished, seemed also to satisfy him that the less trouble and 
detention he gave us the better, as he immediately ordered 
his ruffians to desist from clearing away for opening the 
hatches, which they had already begun, and to go on 
board their boat, where, after wishing me a good voyage 
and regretting the detention he had caused, he joined 
them, and they returned to their privateer and sailed in 
pursuit of other adventures. 

The result of this rencontre was better than I had antici- 
pated, aware, as I was, of the general insubordination on 
board of vessels of this description. I had feared that, 
even if the chief had been disposed to prevent his men 
from plundering, it would not have been in his power, and 
I was much relieved by finding myself mistaken. 



23O STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1798. 

Pursuing a course for the Cape de Verde Islands, we 
came in sight of them the thirtieth day from leaving 
Havre. It was my intention to stop at Port Praya to 
obtain a supply of fruit and vegetables, but I was pre- 
vented by a gale of wind, in which we lay to twelve hours, 
and had a fair opportunity of testing the good properties 
of the vessel for this important purpose. This was the 
only gale of any severity that we experienced during the 
passage ; and, as evidence that it was of no inconsiderable 
violence, a ship came into the Cape of Good Hope, three 
days after our arrival there, which had lost her mizzenmast 
in the same gale. 

It is well known to all who have crossed the ocean, and 
may easily be imagined by those who have not, that a 
passage at sea presents to the observer little else, from day 
to day, than the same unbounded and (in tropical climes) 
unvaried horizon ; the same abyss of waters, agitated more 
or less as it is acted upon by the wind ; the same routine 
of duties to be performed on board, which, in the trade 
winds, have seldom even the ordinary excitement caused 
by reducing and making sail ; and when this monotonous 
round is interrupted by speaking a vessel, by catching a 
porpoise, or by seeing a whale, the incident is seized with 
avidity as an important item to be inserted in the ship's 
log-book, or journal of the day's transaction. 

As our experience was of this kind I have only to notice 
that we crossed the equator in the longitude of 25 , and 
that we met with no occurrence, worthy of note, from the 
time of our leaving the Cape de Verde Islands to our 
arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, excepting that one 
night, when going before the wind with a strong breeze, 
the Prussian soldier brought over the main boom with 
such violence as to part the sheet and rouse all hands 



1798. CAPE TOWN. 23 I 

from their slumbers. As there was a considerable sea, it 
was not without great difficulty and risk that the boom 
was again secured. 

On passing the equator we discovered that one of our 
casks of water had nearly leaked out ; and, having failed 
to fill up the empty ones, it was doubtful if we had suffi- 
cient to carry us to the Isle of France. This considera- 
tion, and the desire of obtaining refreshments and a short 
respite from the fatigue and anxiety of such a passage, 
determined me to stop at the Cape, as I believed, also, 
that our cargo might be sold advantageously there. 

Shaping our course accordingly, we came in sight of 
the Table Mount on the 21st March, 1798, just three 
months from the time of our leaving Havre. We were so 
near in before dark as to perceive that we were signalled 
at the lion's head, but were not able to reach the anchor- 
age until between nine and ten o'clock in the evening. 
We had scarcely dropped our anchor when we were 
boarded by a man-of-war's boat ; the officer of which, 
finding we were from France, immediately hurried me 
ashore, in my sea-garb, to see the Admiral (Sir Hugh C. 
Christian), who, surrounded by a group of naval officers, 
appeared very earnest for such European news as I could 
give them. After passing nearly an hour with the Admiral, 
who treated me with great civility, and answering the 
many questions which were asked by the company, the 
officer who took me from my vessel was desired to convey 
me on board again ; an hour having been previously 
named by the Admiral at which I was to meet him, the 
next morning, at the government house. 

The arrival of such a vessel from Europe naturally 
excited the curiosity of the inhabitants of the Cape, and 
the next morning being calm, we had numerous visitors 



232 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1798. 

on board, who could not disguise their astonishment at 
the size of the vessel, the boyish appearance of the master 
and mate, the queer and unique characters of the two 
men and boy who constituted the crew, and the length of 
the passage we had accomplished. 

Various were the conjectures of the good people of the 
Cape as to. the real object of our enterprise. While some 
among them viewed it in its true light, that of a commer- 
cial speculation, others believed that under this mask we 
were employed by the French government for the convey- 
ance of their despatches, and some even went so far as 
to declare a belief that we were French spies, and, as 
such, deserving of immediate arrest and confinement. 
Indeed, our enterprise formed the principal theme of con- 
versation at the Cape during the week subsequent to our 
arrival. 

At the hour appointed I presented myself at the gov- 
ernment house, and was introduced to the Governor, Lord 
Macartney, in whose company I found, also, the Admiral. 
There was so much urbanity and affability in the reception 
I met with from the Governor as well as the Admiral that 
it inspired me with confidence and prevented my feeling 
any embarrassment. The Governor very politely handed 
me a chair ; and, seated between these two distinguished 
men, I was prepared to answer, to the best of my knowl- 
edge, such questions as they should ask me, and to give 
them all the information respecting European affairs that 
my residence in that country and my recent departure 
enabled me to do. It was just at this period that the 
flotilla was assembling in the ports of the Channel for the 
invasion of England, and on this subject in particular they 
were very earnest to obtain information, seeming to be 
not without apprehension that an invasion was really 



1798. LORD MACARTNEY. 233 

intended. While I related to them what had come under 
my own observation with regard to the preparation and 
what I had heard from others, I expressed to them the 
belief, founded on the desperate nature of the undertaking, 
that nothing more was intended by it than to keep Eng- 
land in a state of alarm, and to cause a corresponding 
increase of expenses. 

Having interrogated me to their satisfaction on the 
political affairs of France, they adverted to the more 
humble business of the object of my enterprise, which the 
Admiral did not hesitate to declare he believed to be for 
the conveyance of despatches for the French government ; 
and, in this belief, informed me that he should take 
measures to prevent my going to the Isle of France. At 
the same time, and as an additional evidence of this per- 
suasion, he had ordered that a search should be made on 
board my vessel for the supposed despatches, and that all 
the letters and papers found on board should be brought 
to him. Consequently, my journal, book of accounts, 
and private letters and papers were submitted to his 
inspection, and the letters I had for French gentlemen in 
the Mauritius were all broken open. 

On the conclusion of my visit to the Governor, who 
gave me permission to dispose of my cargo here if I de- 
sired, I went to the house of an old acquaintance, where I 
had lodged in a former voyage, and in what he considered 
more propitious times. Both he and his family seemed 
glad to see me, and invited me to take up lodgings there 
again ; but the safety of my vessel required my presence 
on board not less in port than at sea, and I therefore 
declined. 

The day following my letters and papers were returned 
to me by the secretary of the Admiral, and I was surprised 



234 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1798 

by a proposition from him for the purchase of my vessel. 
I delayed giving an answer until the next day, and in the 
mean time my inquiries led me to believe that my cargo 
would sell advantageously, but there was nothing but 
specie which would answer my purpose to take away for 
it, and this was prohibited. With a provision for the 
removal of this difficulty, and a good price for my vessel, 
I was prepared to negotiate with the secretary. Meeting 
him, therefore, at the time appointed, and both being 
what in trade is called off-hand men, we soon closed the 
bargain by his engaging to pay me, on delivery of the 
Caroline and stores, five thousand Spanish dollars, and to 
obtain for me permission to export ten thousand. This 
so far exceeded the cost of the vessel, and was even so 
much more than I had expected to receive at the Isle of 
France, that I considered myself already well indemnified 
for all my trouble and anxiety. 

As the Admiral was pressing to have the vessel dis- 
charged, it was my intention to land the cargo, next day, 
on my own account ; but in the mean time, I contracted 
with the merchant, at whose house I now resided, for the 
whole of it, at a moderate advance on the invoice ; it 
being agreed that he was to pay the duties, the expense 
of landing, etc. My spirits were now much elevated with 
my success, and with the prospect of soon being rid of 
the Caroline and of the care inseparable from having such 
a vessel, so circumstanced. 

But I was allowed but a short period to my exultation ; 
new and alarming difficulties awaited me, of which I had 
no suspicion, and which were more harassing than the 
dangers of the winds and the waves. It appeared that 
the duties on entries at the custom house were a percent- 
age on the invoice, and that it was a very common prac- 



1798. ADDRESSING A LORD. 235 

tice with the merchants to make short entries. The 
purchaser was aware that, to stand on equal footing with 
other merchants, he must do as they did ; but he seems 
not to have reflected that, being known to be more hostile 
to the English government than any other individual at 
the Cape, he would be rigidly watched, and, if detected, 
would have less indulgence than any other. The conse- 
quence was a detection of the short entry and seizure of 
vessel and cargo. The merchant went immediately, in a 
supplicating mood, to the collector, in the hope of arrang- 
ing the affair before it should become generally known ; 
but it was all in vain. 

The only alternative which seemed now to be left me 
was to appeal to the highest authority, and I determined 
to write to Lord Macartney and prove to him that, by my 
contract for the sale of the cargo, the duties were not to 
be paid by me, and that consequently I should have 
derived no benefit had the attempt for evading them suc- 
ceeded ; but that, on the other hand, if the vessel and 
cargo were to be confiscated I should be the sufferer, as it 
was doubtful if the merchant could make good the loss. 
I hoped that he might thus be induced to advise a less 
severe course than the collector intended to pursue. But 
how to write a suitable letter embarrassed me. I had no 
friend with whom to advise. I was entirely ignorant of 
the manner of addressing a nobleman, and at the same 
time was aware of the necessity of doing it with propriety. 
In this dilemma I remembered to have seen, in an old 
magazine on board, some letters addressed to noblemen. 
These I sought as models, and they were a useful guide 
to me. After I had completed my letter in my best hand, 
and enclosed it in a neat envelope, I showed it to the 
Admiral's secretary, who appeared to be friendly to me. 



236 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 179& 

He approved of it, and advised my taking it myself to his 
lordship immediately. 

As the schoolboy approaches his master after having 
played truant, so did I approach Lord Macartney on this 
occasion. I delivered my letter to him ; and, after hastily 
reading it, he sternly said, " he could not interfere in the 
business ; there were the laws, and if they had been 
infringed the parties concerned must abide the conse- 
quence," but added, " he would speak to the collector on 
the subject." This addition, delivered in rather a milder 
tone, led me to encourage the hope that the affair would 
not end so disastrously as if left entirely to the discretion 
of the collector. Nor were my hopes unfounded, as the 
next day the vessel and that part of the cargo yet remain- 
ing on board were restored to me, while the portion in 
the possession of the collector was to be adjudged in the 
fiscal court, where it was eventually condemned, to the 
amount of about two thousand dollars. 1 The success of 
my letter was a theme of public conversation in the town, 
and was the means of procuring me the acquaintance of 
several individuals of the first respectability. 

The delay caused by this controversy with the collector 
was unfavorable to the views of the Admiral, who began 
to evince symptoms of impatience, and would probably 
have taken out the cargo with his own men if we had not 
set about it with earnestness as soon as the vessel was 
released from seizure. Having, the day following, com- 
pleted the unlading, I delivered the vessel to the officer 
who was authorized to take possession. In two days after 
she was expedited with a lieutenant and competent num- 
ber of men (I believe for India) ; and, in a subsequent 

1 As a favor to the merchant, I consented to share the loss with him. 



1793. MR. DANA'S COMMENT. 237 

voyage, I learned that she had never been heard of after- 
wards. 

" Now," said Uncle Fritz, " that man went to sea at 
eighteen, at twenty-one he commanded a vessel. See 
what your friend Richard H. Dana — yes, Two-Years- 
before-the-Mast Dana — says of such commanders. Here 
is a scrap from his review of Cleveland's book. 

" ' We do not hesitate to say that an intelligent, firm 
young man, who, at the age of eighteen or twenty, after 
some years spent in receiving an education on shore, 
enters for the first time the nautical service, makes a long 
voyage before the mast, keeps his watch and carries on 
duty a year or so in each of the inferior grades of office, 
by the help of his books and a close practical observation 
and diligent attention while master, and the acquired 
habit of commanding others and relying upon himself, 
will work a ship better at thirty than one of the same age 
would do who was set adrift at twelve, and has stayed in 
the forecastle splicing ropes and hauling out ear-rings 
until he was six-and-twenty.' " 

"That advice," said Tom Rising, "does not seem to 
favor Bob's escape from his tyrants by the sheets of his 
bedroom, and going a-whaling before he knows a vulgar 
fraction from a noun predicate." 

Uncle Fritz laughed. " If you want to know how these 
youngsters crossed oceans in boats with such assistants, 
read what Captain Cleveland wrote at sixty-seven years of 
age. 

"'To the present sixty-eighth year of my life I have 
never taken a drop of spirituous liquor of any kind ; never 
a glass of wine, of porter, ale, or beer, or any beverage 
stronger than tea or coffee ; and, moreover, I have never 



238 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1802. 

used tobacco in any way whatever, and this not only with- 
out injury but, on the contrary, to the preservation of my 
health. Headache is known to me by name only, and, 
excepting those fevers which were produced by great 
anxiety and excitement, my life has been free from sick- 
ness.' Now go on with your story." So Tom went on. 

It is probable that the officer in charge, having been 
accustomed only to large and square-rigged vessels, was 
not aware ot the delicacy of management which one so 
small and differently rigged required, and to this her loss 
may be attributed. 

The various drawbacks on my cargo, arising from seizure, 
some damage, and some abatement, reduced the net pro- 
ceeds to about the original cost. This, with the amount 
of the vessel, I collected in Spanish dollars, making 
together, after my various disbursements, the sum of 
eleven thousand dollars, which I kept in readiness to em- 
bark in the first vessel that should enter the bay on her 
way to India or China. 

"But," said Uncle Fritz, "you must not suppose that 
these gentlemen found it all sunshine in such enterprise. 
Look further and you will find my mark at an adventure 
Cleveland had in Valparaiso. That will show you what is 
meant in our history by 'Spanish claims,' or claims on 
the Spanish government. It will show you, also, how 
prompt and how brave these adventurers had to be." 

On entering the Bay of Valparaiso we were boarded by 
a naval officer from a guardacosta, then lying in port. He 
desired us not to cast anchor till the captain had pre- 
sented himself to the Governor and obtained his per- 



i8o2. YANKEE AND SPANIARD. 239 

mission. Consequently, while Mr. Shaler accompanied 
this officer to the Governor, we lay off and on in the bay. 
More than an hour had elapsed before his return with a 
permission to anchor, and to remain till a reply could be 
received from the Captain-General at Santiago to our 
request for leave to supply our wants, for which a despatch 
was to be forwarded immediately. 

We were surprised to find no less than four American 
vessels lying here, viz. : the ship Hazard of Providence, 
on a voyage similar to our own, detained on suspicion of 
being English, from the circumstance of being armed ; 
the ship Miantonomo and schooner Oneco of Norwich, 
Conn., each with valuable cargoes of seal-skins taken at 
the Island of Masafuera, both detained, and finally con- 
fiscated on a charge of having supplied English privateers, 
then on the coast, with provisions which they had obtained 
at Talcahuaua ; and the ship Tryal, of Nantucket, a whaler, 
also detained for alleged illicit trade. If we were surprised 
to meet so many of our countrymen here, we were equally 
mortified, and in some degree alarmed for our own safety, to 
find them a ' under seizure. Yet, while we violated no law, 
and required no other than the privileges secured to us by 
treaty, we could not believe that we should be molested. 

On the third day after the Governor's messenger had 
been despatched a reply was received from the Captain- 
General, the purport of which was that our passage 
had been so good that we could not be in want of pro- 
visions if we had provided such quantity in Europe as we 
ought to have done. But if it were otherwise, and our 
wants were as urgent as represented, the mode by which 
we proposed paying for them, by a bill on Paris, was 
inadmissible ; and, therefore, that it was his Excellency's 
order that we should leave the port at the expiration of 



240 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1802. 

twenty-four hours after this notification. On remonstrat- 
ing with the Governor, and pointing out to him the inhu- 
manity of driving us to sea, while in possession of so small 
a supply of the first necessaries of life, he very reluctantly 
consented to our remaining another post, and even prom- 
ised to make a more favorable report on the urgency of 
our necessities than he had done. But, as the order was 
reiterated, we doubted his having performed his promise, 
and therefore determined to write directly to the Captain- 
General. In conformity with this decision Mr. Shaler 
addressed a letter to the Captain-General, in the Spanish 
language, expressing his surprise at the order for his 
departure, without affording him the supplies which were 
indispensable, and for which provision had been made by 
treaty. " Presuming that his Excellency's intentions had 
been misconceived by the Governor, he had ventured to 
disobey the order, and to remain in port till the reception 
of his Excellency's reply." A prompt and very polite 
answer to the letter was received, granting us permission 
to supply ourselves with everything we desired ; and, what 
was very extraordinary, giving us further permission, which 
had not been asked, of selling so much of the cargo as 
would be sufficient to pay for the supplies. After which 
he desired we would leave the port immediately, and 
added that if we entered any other port on the coast we 
should be treated as contrabandists. 

The latter paragraph of his Excellency's letter evidently 
conveyed a doubt in his mind whether our destination 
and the object of our voyage was what we had stated it to 
be. But, having subjected ourselves to the mortification 
of having the correctness of our statement doubted, there 
seemed to be no other remedy than patience and forbear- 
ance. At any rate, our embarrassments were more entirely 



1802. DON ANTONIO. 24 1 

relieved than we had anticipated. We procured our pro- 
visions and paid for them in manufactures, and were 
engaged in settling our accounts preparatory to our de- 
parture on the morrow, having already exceeded a month 
since our arrival. 

But we were unconscious of what a day would bring 
forth, and entirely unprepared for a train of unfortunate 
events, in which every American in port was more or less 
involved. It appeared that a part of the cargo of the 
ship Hazard consisted of muskets. These were demanded 
by the Governor, on pretext of being contraband of war, 
and were very properly refused by Captain Rowan, who 
stated to the Governor that they were taken on board at 
a neutral port, that they were not destined to any port of 
the enemies of Spain, and that they did not come under 
the sixteenth article of the treaty. 

During our stay here we had ascertained that the actual 
Governor of the place was with his family on a visit to the 
capital, and that the person with whom we had been 
treating, and who represented here the Majesty of Spain, 
Don Antonio Francisco Garcia Carrasco, was an officer of 
inferior grade, acting as governor during the absence of his 
superior. Don Antonio was about sixty years of age, of 
pleasing manners, of prepossessing countenance, and appar- 
ently of amiable disposition, but of no decision of charac- 
ter; of contracted mind, puffed up with vanity, and 
confounded at the audacity that should dare to refuse 
compliance with an order given in the name of his king ; 
indeed, in his person, character, and capacities, there was 
a striking resemblance to the portrait drawn by Cervantes 
of the celebrated Governor of Barrataria. 

The pride of the Governor was evidently wounded by 
the refusal of Rowan to obey his demand of the muskets, 

16 



242 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1802. 

and his subsequent measures to obtain them were calcu- 
lated to exhibit his folly, and to increase his mortification 
and hostile feelings. To suppose, with his feeble means, 
that he could coerce a compliance with his demand, was 
to suppose the American to be as great a poltroon as him- 
self. As far, however, as the attempt could prove it, he 
certainly did expect to do so. 

The troops of the garrison, about thirty in number, with 
drums beating and colors displayed, were seen marching 
from the castle to the sea-shore, in the afternoon of the 
day on which the muskets had been refused. Rowan, 
who was on the alert, saw them embark in a large 
launch, accompanied by the Governor, and prepared him- 
self for resistance. The launch, which with rowers and 
soldiers was excessively crowded, approached the Hazard 
with the royal colors flying. When within hail of the ship 
the Governor stood up, and demanded if he might come 
on board. Rowan replied that he should be happy to be 
honored with his company, but that he would not permit 
any one of his soldiers to come on board. The launch 
approached nearer to the ship, to enable the parties to 
converse with more ease. The Governor again formally 
demanded the surrender of the arms, and was again refused. 
He remonstrated, and urged the consequences of resisting 
the authority of the King's representative. But it was all 
unavailing, and perceiving that neither threats nor per- 
suasion had the desired effect, that armed sentries were 
stationed at the gangways of the ship, and the proper pre- 
cautions taken against a coup de main, he returned to the 
shore with his soldiers, deeply mortified, excessively irri- 
tated, and vowing vengeance. 

But it is not unusual that what is done in the moment 
of great excitement is not of the most judicious character, 



r8o2. ARRESTED. 243 

and that by suffering ourselves to be controlled by our 
passions, we commit acts which increase the absurdity of 
a ridiculous position, and augment our embarrassments. 
This was precisely the case with the Governor, in this 
instance. Without adverting to consequences, but influ- 
enced by the violence of his passion, he, immediately on 
landing, ordered every American who could be found on 
shore to be arrested and shut up in the castle. Shaler, 
Rouissillon, and myself, being of this number, were accord- 
ingly arrested, and, with four others of our countrymen, 
were marched to prison in charge of a file of soldiers, who 
by their conversation during the time, evinced that their 
feelings were in unison with those of the Governor. 

At the same time with the order for our arrest, and as 
if to consummate his folly, the Governor made another 
attempt to intimidate, by ordering the captain of a large 
Spanish ship, which mounted eighteen heavy guns betwixt 
decks, to bring his broadside to bear on the Hazard, and 
order her colors to be hauled down in token of submission, 
on penalty of being sunk. After what had occurred, to 
make such a threat, without daring to take the responsibility 
of executing it, served only to increase the awkwardness of 
the Governor's position. While all, both on shore and 
on board the shipping, were watching with intense interest 
the result of this threat, a man was observed on board 
the Hazard engaged in nailing the colors to the mast. A 
more significant reply could not possibly be made. The 
Governor was foiled, and a calm succeeded the storm, 
during the time required to despatch a courier to the 
Captain- General, and to receive his instructions in the 
case. 

Our arrest prevented our sailing, as we intended to do, 
the same evening. Having passed a most uncomfortable 



244 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1802. 

night, without beds, in the castle, where we were annoyed 
by myriads of fleas, and having been without food of any 
kind since noon of the preceding day, we wrote to the 
Governor in the morning, requesting to be provided with 
food and beds. Our letter was returned unopened ; but 
about noon, by a verbal message from the Governor, we 
were informed that liberty was given us to go on board our 
respective ships. We were doubtful of the propriety of 
availing ourselves of this liberty, so ungraciously proffered, 
till an apology should be made to us for the aggression. It 
was finally settled that Shaler, being the most important 
person, as master of the vessel, should remain in prison. 
We therefore sent to him a bed and provisions. This was 
a determination for which the Governor was entirely unpre- 
pared, and which seemed to confound him. With char- 
acteristic imbecility, he went to the castle, and greeting 
Mr. Shaler with apparent cordiality, begged him to go on 
board his vessel, and proceed to sea. This Shaler offered 
to do, on condition of receiving a written apology for im- 
prisoning us. He declined giving it. Permission was 
then asked to send an express with a letter to the Captain- 
General. This he peremptorily and angrily refused, and 
then suddenly started off to superintend the preparations 
which he was making to compel a surrender of the Hazard, 
the orders for which he expected to receive the next day. 
Although the ostensible reason for refusing a compliance 
with the Governor's orders to go to sea was to obtain sat- 
isfaction, yet the real cause of our delay was the hope and 
belief of being able to render essential service in aiding to 
extricate Rowan from his difficulties. It was evident that 
the Governor desired only the sanction of the Captain- 
General to attempt coercion ; and, in expectation of 
receiving it, he was making the requisite preparations. 



i&2. THE GOVERNOR'S PLANS. 245 

The soldiers of the garrison, and the populace, were busily 
engaged, under the direction of the Governor, in placing 
cannon in every direction to bear on the ship. The inhab- 
itants of the houses in the vicinity left them, and retired 
to the hills. The activity and bustle of business had given 
place to the preparation and excitement of war, and the 
confusion and apprehension could hardly have been 
exceeded if the town had been on the point of being 
taken by assault. 

While Mr. Rouissillon and myself were walking through 
one of the streets we encountered the Governor, who 
saluted us, and asked me if I was not next in command on 
board to Mr. Shaler. Answering in the affirmative, he 
ordered me to go on board, and proceed to sea. On my 
rejoining that I could not go without my captain, he 
threatened to seize the vessel, and without waiting for a 
reply, left us abruptly, and apparently in an angry mood. 
In the course of the following day, being the fourth from 
the beginning of hostilities, the express arrived from San- 
tiago, bringing a letter to Captain Rowan from the Cap- 
tain-General. It contained such promise of redress, if he 
would comply with the requisitions of government by de- 
livering up the arms, that he was induced to yield. The 
arms were accordingly delivered to the order of the Gov- 
ernor, and his receipt taken for them. The portentous 
cloud, which had been lowering over the affairs of our 
countrymen in this place, appeared to be now dissipated. 
The colors of defiance, which had been waving on the 
ships and at the castle from the beginning of the dispute, 
were hauled down ; the cannon which had been trans- 
ported to the beach were returned to their ancient posi- 
tion ; the sentries were no longer seen at the gangways of 
the Hazard ; the old women and children returned to 



246 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1802. 

their habitations; and everything indicated peace and 
repose. 

This repose, however, was only the treacherous calm 
that precedes the hurricane. The Governor could not 
brook the indignity he had suffered. The vengeance he 
had vowed, and which he had not the courage to take 
openly, he determined to execute treacherously ; and his 
measures, which were taken with great secrecy, and with 
the stimulus of plunder, were executed with such success 
as must have satisfied his highest ambition, and served as 
a balm to his wounded feelings. 

On the evening of the day when the muskets were sur- 
rendered, Mr. Rouissillon and myself made a visit to the 
Governor, and found him to be as affable and pleasant as 
was naturally to be expected on attaining the object of 
which he had so long been in pursuit. He hoped we 
should proceed to sea the next day, and inquired why 
Rowan did not come on shore ; adding, to our surprise, 
that if he did not come voluntarily he should use coer- 
cion. We assured him of our belief that his not having 
been on shore that day was accidental, and not from any 
apprehension of molestation, begged him not to think of 
coercion, and offered our guarantee that he should pre- 
sent himself at the castle in the morning. On leaving the 
Governor we went on board the Hazard and reported 
to Rowan our conversation with the Governor. He had 
no hesitation in determining to act in accordance with his 
desire by visiting him as early as it was permitted strangers 
to be on shore. 

BOARDING THE HAZARD. 
Fearing, in this instance, a too ready compliance, in 
which case the opportunity for revenge would escape him, 



iS02. BOARDING THE HAZARD. 247 

the Governor must have had everything planned and pre- 
pared in the evening, probably while we were with him, to 
execute his cowardly design in the morning, before it was 
permitted to Rowan to come on shore. The launches, 
which were used to transport wheat from the shore to the 
large ship before mentioned, passed and repassed near the 
Hazard while thus engaged ; consequently, they would 
excite no suspicion when approaching the ship. An enter- 
prize involving so little risk, and which promised so golden 
a harvest of plunder, had not to wait for the requisite num- 
ber of men. About two hundred ruffians, armed with pis- 
tols, swords, and knives, embarked in the launches used 
for carrying wheat, and boarded the Hazard on each 
side, while her men were entirely off their guard, unsus- 
picious of any cause of hostility. To save their lives, such 
of the crew as were able made a hasty retreat to the hold. 
But there were two poor fellows lying sick in their ham- 
mocks, and these were both dangerously wounded. Rowan 
was screened from the vengeance of the banditti by the 
interference of an officer, taken immediately on shore, and 
sent to the castle. 

The scene of plunder and confusion which ensued beg- 
gars all description. Perceiving that the mischief was 
likely to be more extensive than he had imagined, the 
Governor went on board with a party of soldiers to arrest 
its progress. But he soon discovered that it is easier to 
set a mob in motion than to control it afterwards. With 
his utmost efforts, aided by the soldiers, and by the com- 
mandant of the custom-house guards and his satellites, he 
was incapable of resisting the progress of the plunderers, 
until, being satiated, they retreated with their booty to the 
shore as opportunity offered. When there were but few 
remaining he succeeded in driving them away, and placed 
the ship in charge of the mates. 



348 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1802. 



CALL ON THE GOVERNOR. 

After such an achievement, such a gathering of laurels, 
there was some hazard to a foreigner in calling on the 
Governor, even though it were to compliment him. But, 
being determined that the Captain- General should have 
our version of the transaction, I called on him at noon for 
leave to send an express to the capital to complain of the 
outrage, and to demand that redress there which we asked 
in vain here. In an angry tone, and instead of replying 
to my request, he inquired if we were desirous of provok- 
ing him to serve us in the manner he had done the ship. 
I replied that I hoped there was no danger of our causing 
him any provocation, but should it be our misfortune to 
do so to the extent intimated, there could exist no cause 
for such violent measures as had been used towards the 
ship, as no resistance would be made. I then remarked 
on the advantage that would result to the government in 
keeping away the rabble, and thus securing the whole 
property. I stated, also, that there were many valuable 
instruments, charts, and books on board which would be 
useful to the Spanish marine, but which might be de- 
stroyed if, as he suggested, " he served us in the manner 
he had done the ship " ; and I repeated a hope that he 
would not do so. Seeing that I was not to be intimidated, 
and was, moreover, determined not to go to sea without 
communicating with the Captain- General, he at length 
reluctantly consented to our sending an express. . . . 

LETTERS. 

The letter written by Mr. Shaler in Spanish, and com- 
plaining of the outrageous conduct of the Governor to the 



i8o2. WAIT ON THE GOVERNOR. 249 

unoffending citizens of a friendly power, was sent by a 
courier. It produced an interchange of several letters, the 
purport of which was, on one side, to deny the right of 
any foreign vessel to traverse these seas, which, his Excel- 
lency said, like the territory, belonged exclusively to his 
Catholic Majesty ; on the other, to refute the absurd doc- 
trine of any nation's possessing an exclusive right to any 
particular sea, and giving chapter and verse in the treaty, 
not only for our right to sail where we please, but to enter 
their ports and demand succor. His Excellency closed 
the correspondence by expressing a hope that if we did 
not admit their exclusive right to these seas, we would, at 
least, allow them to be masters in their own ports. . . . 

WAIT ON THE GOVERNOR. 

Having assisted in bringing Rowan's affairs into such 
a train as promised a speedy and satisfactory adjustment, 
there existed no farther inducement to remain longer in 
port. Accordingly, having settled our various accounts of 
disbursements, Mr. Shaler, accompanied by Mr. Rouissil- 
lon, waited on the Governor to notify him of his intention 
to proceed to sea next morning, and to take leave. He 
received them with great cordiality, expressed much regret 
at what had occurred, promised to remedy the mischief as 
far as he was able, offered us every facility in his power to 
insure our departure at the time appointed, and, though 
it would not have been surprising if he had wished us to 
the devil, on the contrary, wished us a good voyage. 

There was a number of our unfortunate countrymen in 
port, principally the crews of the condemned vessels, who 
had lost their little all, and whose situation excited com- 
miseration. We knew that if they could get to Masafuera 



250 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1802. 

with the provisions they could obtain here, they would, by 
pursuing their vocation, soon bring up arrears. We deter- 
mined, therefore, to go so far out of our way as to give 
them all passages thither. They all very gratefully ac- 
cepted our invitation. Being ready on the 21st of April, 
and on the point of leaving the port, a message was 
brought from the Governor, requesting to see Mr. Shaler. 
He went immediately to him, and found, to his astonish- 
ment, that he wanted him to defer his departure a few 
days. It appeared that some suspicious or malicious per- 
son had suggested to this silly governor that our object in 
taking so many men on board was to capture the large 
ship, then on the point of sailing for Lima. To guard 
against this, he begged Mr. Shaler to defer sailing till 
forty-eight hours after that ship had sailed, and, moreover, 
hoped we would not revenge ourselves on any unarmed 
Spanish vessel we might chance to meet. . . . 

QUICKSILVER. 

The time we had agreed to wait had not quite expired 
when we were all taken aback again. It appeared that 
one of our sailors, an Irishman, who had deserted, had 
given information that we had many kegs of dollars on 
board, stowed under the ballast. As he had pointed out 
precisely where they were, an armed force came on board 
by order of the Governor, and, proceeding directly to the 
place indicated by the sailor, found, instead of kegs of 
dollars, kegs of quicksilver, of which they took away four, 
giving a receipt for them. 

We flattered ourselves that this aggression would be the 
means of opening the way for our going to the capital. 
Renewing, therefore, our correspondence with the Cap- 



i802. TAKING LEAVE. 25 I 

tain-General, to complain of this outrage, and remarking 
on our entire want of confidence in the capacity or hon- 
esty of the Governor and his advisers, we reiterated our 
request for leave to repair to Santiago for the more speedy 
adjustment of our grievance. In reply, his Excellency 
remarked on the loss of time which our coming to San- 
tiago would cause, and observed that the difficulty could 
be easily adjusted at Valparaiso by answering satisfactorily 
the following questions, viz. : Why was the quicksilver 
hidden under the ballast? To whom does it belong? 
To what port destined? These interrogatories, being 
solemnly propounded by the Governor to Mr. Shaler, a 
notary public being present, he replied to the first that it 
was not hidden ; to the second, that it belonged to the 
owners of the vessel and cargo ; to the third, that its des- 
tination was round the world ; and to this deposition he 
took an oath on an odd volume of Shakespeare, presented 
him by the Governor for that purpose. 

The result of this investigation was immediately de- 
spatched to the Captain-General, and an answer returned 
by his Excellency with the least possible delay, the pur- 
port of which was that the four kegs of quicksilver should 
be restored to us on board, and that we should then leave 
the port without further delay. . . . During this contro- 
versy, the men whom we intended taking to Masafuera 
had dispersed in various directions, so that having on 
board only our original small complement of men, the 
authorities had no cause to apprehend any acts of piracy 
from us. 

TAKING LEAVE. 

The functions of Don Antonio as Governor ad interim 
having ceased on the arrival of his senior from Santiago, 



252 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1802. 

when we were on the point of sailing, we made him a visit 
as soon after his arrival as etiquette would permit. He 
gave us a most cordial, frank, and friendly reception, and 
expressed much regret at having been absent on our arri- 
val ; as, he said, not only would the trouble we had expe- 
rienced have been avoided, but he would have obtained 
permission for us to visit Santiago. The order for our de- 
parture, however, being now given by the Captain-Gen- 
eral, was irrevocable, and he therefore hoped there would 
be no further delay. On taking leave he inundated us 
with civilities and good wishes, promising, moreover, to 
use his best endeavors to bring the affair of our unfortunate 
countryman, Rowan, to a speedy and satisfactory conclu- 
sion. These civilities, professions, and promises passed 
with us for no more than they were worth, after the ob- 
servations our opportunities had afforded us of judging 
of the character and motives of action of the authorities 
here. 

It was now the 6th of May, being two and a half months 
from the date of our arrival, — a long time, considering that 
we were allowed only twenty-four hours by the Captain- 
General to remain in port ; and for the third time had set- 
tled our accounts, and made all ready for our departure. 
No further obstacle to our sailing occurring, and having 
taken leave of our acquaintance and countrymen, we left 
Valparaiso to the great satisfaction of the Governor and 
authorities, no less than of ourselves. 

"Another such book," said Uncle Fritz, "is Captain 
Bennett Forbes's account of his reminiscences. But as 
you are all Boston bred, I suppose you have all seen 
that." 

And it proved that they had. 



XI. 

THE NORTHWEST. 

" T TNCLE FRITZ, you spoke of Jefferson as a geogra- 

v/ pher or naturalist." 

" Oh, yes," said Uncle Fritz, " when he was in France 
he was a great deal with the philosophical set, who all 
thought that if people knew the length of a degree of the 
meridian, and could rightly analyze water, all would be 
well." 

" They should learn Dr. Watts," said Esther. 

" Dr. Watts ! Frenchmen learn Dr. Watts? " 

" Why, Dr. Watts implies that knowing is not quite 
enough. Don't you remember? 

' Who know what 's right, not only so, 
But also practise what they know.' " 

And Esther gave a very funny emphasis and accent to 
" practise," just as she said Mr. Ockley, the Sunday- 
school teacher at North Holderness, did. 

Uncle Fritz, not displeased with the comment, went on 
to say that some of Jefferson's worst follies and some of 
his most sensible enterprises were dictated by his wish to 
be called a philosopher. " Of the whole set of the phi- 
losophers whom he used to meet in the society of Paris, 
about the time when the French Revolution was brewing, 
he only came to an important post of power. 



254 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1881. 

"One of his theories was peaceful war. He thought 
that the United States could starve Europe into sub- 
mission, if he cut off all trade. But alas ! It was the 
United States which starved, and Europe did not know 
that anything was happening. 

" Then he had a plan for keeping his navy on land, and 
carrying it about in carts wherever the enemy might attack. 
But this never worked well. 

" But he wrote an interesting book on the resources of 
Virginia, — he was president of the Philosophical Society, 
and when you go and visit Mary Lesley, at Philadelphia, 
she will take you to the library, and show you no end of 
curious things in the archives, which have to do with 
him. 

" I have a copy of a letter which he wrote to our old 
friend, Phil. Nolan, when he was hunting wild horses in 
Texas. His namesake, Mr. Joseph Jefferson, was kind 
enough to hunt that up for me in the State Department 
at Washington. 

" Philip Nolan was the first person to bring back to the 
United States any accurate knowledge of the wonderful 
resources of Texas. The Spaniards caught him there, 
violated their own safeguard, and killed him in 1801. 
That is probably the reason why we have no answer to 
Mr. Jefferson's letter to him. 

" Then, when Jefferson was well established in the presi- 
dency, he determined to find what there was between the 
Mississippi and the Pacific. Nobody who had left any reli- 
able account had ever gone across in the regions north of 
Mexico. 

" If you will look in the Popular History again," said 
Uncle Fritz, " where you were looking when we had the 
Coronado reading, you will find how four poor fellows of 



1804. LEWIS AND CLARKE. 255 

Narvaez's expedition straggled across from the gulf, slaves 
most of the time to Indians, in the years following 1528. 
But after them there was no authentic account of any 
passage. 

" It is odd enough," continued Uncle Fritz, " that every 
cyclopaedia, till within a few years, says that Carver, who 
went from here to Lake Superior in 176S, went to the 
Pacific. You will find that in the earlier editions of Apple- 
ton. So the old French cyclopaedias say that Chateau- 
briand, in 1792, went to the Pacific. In truth, he never 
went beyond the Red River of Louisiana. Lewis and 
Clarke were the first men to cross the Rocky Mountains 
and back, from the Mississippi to the Pacific. 

"You see that as long ago as 1792, in that very fur- 
trade of which Captain Cleveland gives you some account, 
Robert Gray, from Salem, here in the ship Columbia, 
discovered the Columbia River. He sailed up, gave his 
vessel's name to it, and on that discovery, in a consider- 
able measure, rested, at one time, our claim to Oregon. 
Jefferson selected two captains from the army, Meriwether 
Lewis and George Clarke, and bade them organize an 
expedition to find this same Columbia River and descend 
to the sea. This they did in the years 1804, 1805, and 
1806. You see, there were as yet no steamboats. They 
had to row, sail, and tow, on their way up the Missouri, till 
they came to the mountains. Slow work it was, to be sure. 
Then they bought horses from the Indians and crossed 
the passes, — in the same regions where the Northern 
Pacific Railroad was built in our own time, — and to them 
are due the names of Lewis's River and Clarke's River, 
the two branches which unite in the Columbia River. 

" When they came back, they had not been heard from 
for more than two years. 



256 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1814. 

" This was the beginning of a series of government 
explorations which have lasted till our time. The authori- 
ties at Washington publish every year valuable reports of 
their agents in the Ethnological Department, in the 
Irrigation Department, and in the Alaskan Department. 
Keep your eyes on these reports. They do not get into 
book stores, but are distributed with great liberality at 
Washington to any persons who are interested. Of all 
the books made out of the journals of those explorations, 
Irving's " Astoria " and " Captain Bonneville " are the 
most entertaining. Later down Francis Parkman's book, 
when he spent a summer with the Sioux, is charming. 1 
Fremont is very entertaining. There are several of his 
reports. 

" Suppose we try the Great Northwest. That is a 
Country which, before Fulton invented the steamboat, 
seemed so useless that we almost lost it at the treaty of 
Ghent by the mere indifference of our own negotiators. 

" It was our dear old John Quincy Adams who hung 
on. He hated the English so that he would not let them 
have even a wilderness if he could help it." 

Then Uncle Fred asked Clement to bring him the 
third volume of Adams's Memoirs, 2 and he showed Clem, 
some of his marks at passages in the negotiation of the 
treaty of 18 14 with England. 

"Mr. Gallatin told them that if they considered the re- 
mainder of the article, the forty-ninth parallel of latitude, an 
equivalent, he wished them to understand that we attached 
no importance to it at all. It would, indeed, be a con- 
venience to have the boundary settled ; but the lands there 
were of so little value, and the period when they might be 

1 The Oregon Trail. 

2 Memoirs of John Quincy Adams. 



1823. COLONEL LONG. 2$ 7 

settled so remote, that we were perfectly willing that the 
boundary there should remain as it is now, and without 
any further arrangement." 

" Why, Uncle Fritz, it was the State of Minnesota which 
Gallatin says was of so little value," said Bedford, who 
was on the floor, with Colton's Atlas open. 

" To be sure it was, my boy. But please think what 
the State of Minnesota would be without steamboats and 
without railroads. And even in 18 14, even Mr. Gallatin 
did not dream of what steamboats were to do. 

" But the steamboat was already pushing its nose into 
every river of the West. And nine years after that remark 
of Mr. Gallatin, Col. Long was sent up there to see 
where the new boundary — which is our present boun- 
dary of 49 north latitude — would run. The old boun- 
dary of the first treaty had proved quite impossible, 
because the Mississippi did not rise where they thought 
it did." 

"And with Col. Long," said Col. Ingham, "your 
readings connect with Uncle Fritz. For this same Col. 
Long afterwards was interested in railroads, and invented 
a locomotive which should burn hard coal, — anthracite. 
When I was a boy, Mr. Hale bought one of these engines 
for the Boston and Worcester Railroad. Those were days, 
Bedford, when a good-natured boy had more rights than 
he has now, and rules and regulations were not so many. 
I used to be a good deal at the railroad station in 
Washington Street, and more than once have I coaxed a 
good-natured engine-driver to give me a ride on ' Col. 
Long,' as we always called his engine. What her real 
name was I have forgotten. 

" But Laura did not come here to hear stories about 
locomotives ; she is all ready to read." 

17 



258 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1823 

And Laura read from the narrative of an expedition to 
the source of St. Peter's River. 



PLAN OF THE PARTY. 

The success which attended the expedition to the 
Rocky Mountains, and the important information which it 
imparted concerning the nature of the valley drained by 
the Missouri and its tributaries, of which nothing was 
known but what had been observed by Lewis and Clarke, 
induced the Government of the United States to continue 
its endeavors to explore the unknown wilds within its 
limits. The first object which appeared to it deserving of 
investigation was the district of country bounded by the 
Missouri, the Mississippi, and the northern boundary of 
the United States. 

Accordingly it was determined in the spring of 1823, 
by the executive, that an expedition be immediately fitted 
out for exploring the river St. Peter's and the country 
situated on our northern boundary between the Red River 
of Hudson's Bay and Lake Superior. 

The command of the expedition was intrusted to Major 
S. H. Long, and he received orders from the War Depart- 
ment, dated April 25, 1823, from which the following is 
taken : — 

" The route of the expedition will be as follows : com- 
mencing at Philadelphia, thence proceeding to Wheeling 
in Virginia, thence to Chicago via Fort Wayne, thence to 
Fort Armstrong or Dubuque's Lead Mines, thence up the 
Mississippi to Fort Anthony, thence to the source of the 
St. Peter's River, thence to the point of intersection 
between Red River and the forty-ninth degree of north 
latitude, thence along the northern boundary of the United 



1823. THE MOUNDS. 259 

States to Lake Superior, and thence homeward by the 
lakes. 

" The object of the expedition is to make a general 
Survey of the country on the route pointed out, together 
with a topographical description of the same, to ascertain 
the latitude and longitude of all the remarkable points, to 
examine and describe its productions, animal, vegetable, 
and mineral, and to inquire into the character, customs, 
etc., of the Indian tribes inhabiting the same." . . . 

The party travelled in light carriages from Philadelphia 
to Wheeling, where they disposed of them and purchased 
horses in exchange. The usual route through Lancaster, 
Columbia, York, and Gettysburg, was travelled. Here 
they left the Pittsburg turnpike road and reached Hagers- 
town in Maryland by a cross road ; from Hagerstown they 
continued along the Maryland turnpike road to Cumber- 
land, where it unites with the national road, upon which 
they travelled to Wheeling. . . . 

The country about the Muskingum appears to have 
been at a former period the seat of a very extensive 
aboriginal population. Everywhere do we observe in this 
valley remains of works which attest at the same time the 
number, the genius, and the perseverance of those de- 
parted nations. Their works have survived the lapse of 
ages, but the spirit which prompted them has disappeared. 
We wander over the face of the country ; wherever we go 
we mark the monuments which they have erected ; we 
would interrogate them as to the authors of these mighty 
works, but no voice replies to ours save that of the echo. 
The mind seeks in vain for some clew to assist it in un- 
ravelling the mystery. Was their industry stimulated by 
the desire of protecting themselves against the inroads of 
invaders, or were they themselves the trespassers? did 



26o STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1823. 

they migrate to this spot, and if so, whence came they? 
who were they? where went they? and wherefore came 
they here ? Their works have been torn open ; they have 
been searched into, but all in vain. The mound is now 
levelled with the sod of the valley ; the accumulated earth, 
which was perhaps collected from a distance into one 
immense mass to erect a monument, deemed indestructible, 
over the remains of some western Pharaoh, is now scat- 
tered over the ground so that its concealed treasure may 
be brought to light. Every bone is accurately examined, 
every piece of metal or fragment of broken pottery is 
curiously studied ; still no light has as yet been thrown 
upon the name and date of the once populous nation 
which formerly flourished on the banks of the numerous 
tributary streams of the Ohio. 

Such were the reflections suggested to us by our visit to 
the numerous mounds and Indian works which abound in 
this part of the country, the first of which we observed in 
the small village of Irville, situated eleven miles west of 
Zanesville. It has been opened, and as usual it has 
yielded bones. This mound was about fifteen feet in 
diameter and four and a half in height ; it appears to have 
had an elliptic basis. Our guide told us that he was 
present at the opening of it, and that there were a number 
of human bones, and among others a tolerably entire 
skeleton which laid with its head to the northwest ; the 
arms were thrown back over the head. Besides the bones 
there were numerous spear and arrow points, and of the 
latter we picked up one on the spot. There was also a 
plate of copper of the length of the hand, and from five 
to six inches in width ; it was rolled up at the sides and 
had two holes near the centre ; its weight we were told 
might have been about a quarter of a pound, but was 



1823. BRASS AND COPPER. 2.6 1 

probably heavier ; for it must have been very thin, if, with 
those dimensions, it weighed so little. What could have 
been the use of it, except as an ornament, was not deter- 
mined ; indeed, the inhabitants of that part of the country 
are so much accustomed to dig up the bones and remains 
of the aborigines that they are very careless about 
observing or recording the objects found, and the circum- 
stances under which they were discovered. We are told 
that pieces of copper, and even of brass, had been fre- 
quently collected. The copper may be easily accounted 
for without a reference to a higher degree of civilization 
or to an intercourse with nations more advanced in the 
arts. The existence of native copper strewed upon the 
surface of the ground in many places will easily account 
for the circumstance of its being used by the natives as 
an ornament, in the same manner that the Copper Indians 
of the north have been known, from the earliest days of 
their discovery by the whites, to adorn their persons with 
it ; but we cannot account for the discovery of ornaments 
of brass unless we admit an intercourse with nations that 
had advanced in civilization. 

The existence, therefore, of fragments of this alloy in 
mounds appears to us doubtful ; for, if true, the Indians 
who constructed them must have been much more refined 
than we can suppose they were, or they must have had 
intercourse with civilized nations. The erection of these 
mounds, which appear to be in a great measure contem- 
porary, was certainly much anterior to the discovery of 
this continent in the fifteenth century ; and therefore it is 
not from Europeans that these pieces of brass were ob- 
tained, if, again we repeat it, they have been found interred 
in these works. 

Besides this mound there are many others in the imme- 



262 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1823. 

diate vicinity of Irville, some of which have very great 
dimensions. We observed one near the road, which had 
been but recently excavated at its summit ; it was perhaps 
thirty-five or forty feet high. These mounds were for the 
most part overgrown with bushes ; we could discover no 
order or plan in their relative positions, and from the scat- 
tered and irregular manner in which they lie, it does not 
appear that they were intended to be connected with any 
work of defence ; it is more probable that they were erected 
as mausoleums over the remains of the dead, and that the 
difference in their size was intended to convey an idea of 
the difference in the relative importance of those whose 
bones they covered. We were informed that this valley 
and the neighboring hills abound in excavations resem- 
bling wells. We met with none of these ; they are said to 
be very numerous, and are generally attributed to the first 
French adventurers, who, being constantly intent upon 
the search of the precious metals, commenced digging 
wherever they observed a favorable indication. Not hav- 
ing seen any of these, we could not pretend to express an 
opinion upon their origin, but from the number in which 
they are represented to be, as well as from their dimen- 
sions, they appear to us far exceeding the abilities of those 
to whom they are attributed, and to have required a much 
more numerous and permanent population than these 
adventurers are known to have brought over with them • 
we would, therefore, prefer the opinion which ascribes 
them to the nations that erected the mounds, and who 
may have sunk these wells, either for purposes of self- 
defence according to the usual mode of Indian warfare, 
or as habitations, in the manner known to be practised by 
some tribes, or, finally, for some other cause as yet undis- 
covered. Their great depth, which is said at this time to 



1823. AN INDIAN TRIBE. 263 

exceed twenty feet, may be considered as an objection to 
the opinion which we have advanced. The supposition 
of Mr. Atwater that these wells, which he states to be at 
least a thousand in number, were opened for the mere 
purpose of extracting rock-crystal and horn-stone, appears 
to us too refined. Whatever may have been the advances 
in civilization of these nations, we have no reason to be- 
lieve that they had carried them so far as to be induced 
to undertake immense mining operations for the mere 
purpose of obtaining these articles. 

" All this," said Uncle Fred, " is about Ohio, you see. 
" Now if you will turn over to my mark you will find 
something farther off." 



AN INDIAN TRIBE. 

While travelling over the prairie which borders upon 
that part of St. Peter that connects Lac-qui-parle with Big 
Stone Lake, our attention was aroused by the sight of what 
appeared to be buffaloes chased across the prairie. They, 
however, soon proved to life Indians. Their number, at first 
limited to two, gradually increased to near one hundred. 
They were seen rising from every part of the prairie, and 
after those in the advance had reconnoitered us and made 
signals that we were friends by discharging their guns, they 
all came running toward us, and in a few minutes we 
found ourselves surrounded by a numerous band. They 
had at first been apprehensive that we might be enemies, 
and this was the cause of the different manoeuvres which 
they made previous to discharging their guns. The effect 
of these guns fired upon the prairie in every direction, and 
by each as soon as he had required the requisite degree of 



264 STORIES OF ADVENTURE 1823. 

certainty that the strangers were friends, was really very 
beautiful. 

As they approached we had an opportunity of observing 
that these Indians were good-looking and straight ; none 
were large, nor were remarkable for the symmetry of their 
forms. They were for the most part destitute of clothing, 
except the breech-cloth which they wore. Some of them, 
and particularly the young men, were dressed with care 
and ostentation. They wore looking-glasses suspended to 
their garments. Others had papers of pins, purchased 
from the traders, as ornaments. We observed that one 
who appeared to be a man of some note among them 
had a live sparrow-hawk upon his head by way of dis- 
tinction ; this man wore, also, a buffalo-robe, on which 
eight bear-tracks were painted. Some of them were 
mounted on horseback, and were constantly drumming 
with their heels upon the sides of their horses, being des- 
titute of whip and spur. Many of them came and shook 
hands with us, while the rest were riding all round us in 
different directions. They belonged, as we were told, to 
one of the tribes of the Dakotas. Their chief being absent, 
the principal man among them told us that they had thirty 
lodges of their people at the lower end of the lake, and 
invited us to visit them, which invitation we accepted. 
These Indians demonstrated the greatest friendship and 
affection at seeing us. The village to which they directed 
us consisted of thirty skin-lodges, situated on a fine 
meadow on the bank of the lake. 

Their permanent residence, or at least that which they 
have occupied for the last five years, is on a rocky island 
in the lake, nearly opposite to, and within a quarter of a 
mile of their present encampment. Upon the island they 
cultivate their cornfields, secure against the aggressions of 



1823. POMME BLANCHE. 265 

their enemies. They had been lately engaged in hunting 
buffalo, apparently with much success. 

The principal man led us to his lodge, wherein a num- 
ber of the influential men were admitted, the women being 
excluded. But we observed that they, with all the chil- 
dren, went about the lodge, peeping through the crevices, 
and not unfrequently raising the skins, to observe our 
motions. They soon brought in a couple of large wooden 
dishes filled with pounded buffalo meat boiled, and covered 
with the marrow of the same animal ; of this we partook 
with great delight. It was the first time that several of the 
party had tasted fresh buffalo meat ; and it was the first 
meal made by any of us upon fresh meat since we had left 
Fort Anthony. 

During the entertainment Major Long made known to 
them the objects of the expedition, at which they appeared 
very much gratified. As we rose to depart we were in- 
formed that another feast was preparing for us in one of 
the adjoining tents, of which we were invited to partake. 
We were too familiar with Indian manners not to know 
that the excuse of having just eaten a very hearty meal 
would not be considered as sufficient among them ; and 
so we readily resigned ourselves to the necessity of again 
testifying our friendly disposition by doing honor to their 
meal. It consisted of a white root, similar in appearance 
to a small turnip ; it is called by the French po?nme 
blanche. It was boiled down into a sort of mush, and 
was very much relished by most of the party ; had it been 
seasoned with salt or sugar, it might have been delicious. 
This was held, even by the guides, to be a great treat. As 
we were rising from this meal we were informed that a 
third was preparing for us. We begged to decline it, hav- 
ing a considerable distance to travel that afternoon ; but 



266 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1823. 

we were informed that this would be a great disappoint- 
ment to him who had prepared the feast, as, in order to 
outdo all the others, he had killed a dog, which is con- 
sidered not only as the greatest delicacy, but also as a 
sacred animal, of which they eat only on great occasions. 
In order to meet his wishes we deferred our journey for an 
hour, but the repast not being then prepared we were 
compelled to leave the village, to the great and manifest 
mortification of our third host, and to the no small dis- 
appointment of most of our party, who were desirous of 
tasting of the sacred animal. In order to make a return 
for the civilities which we had received at the hands of the 
Indians, we informed them that if they would despatch a 
messenger with us we would send them from a neighbor- 
ing trader's house some tobacco, all ours having been lost 
on the river. They gladly accepted the proposal, and sent 
two lads with us for it. We met on the bluff which com- 
mands the superintendent's house an Indian who claims 
the command of the Mahkpatoons. We had declined his 
invitation to stay at his lodge in the afternoon, being de- 
sirous of reaching Mr. Moore's house as early as possible, 
but we promised to return about sunset, and he accord- 
ingly made all due preparations to receive us. The chief 
and his principal men were in waiting. We entered the 
skin-lodge, and were seated on fine buffalo-robes spread 
all around ; on the fire, which was in the centre of the 
lodge, two large iron kettles, filled with choicest pieces of 
buffalo, were placed. When the chief took his seat he 
had near him a large pouch or bag, decorated with but 
little taste, although he seemed to have gathered up all 
that he could collect in the way of ornament. Among 
other things we observed an old and dirty comb. He 
had, since our first visit, bedaubed his face with white 



1823. TATANKA WECUACHITA. 267 

clay. After the usual preliminaries of shaking of hands, 
smoking the pipe of peace, etc., we proceeded to the feast, 
which was found excellent. The buffalo meat had been 
selected with care, the fat and the lean judiciously por- 
tioned out, the whole boiled to a proper degree ; and in 
fine, though our appetites were not stimulated to a long 
fast, this repast was one of the best of which we had 
ever partaken. Our hosts were gratified and flattered at 
the quantity which we ate ; the residue of the feast was 
sent to our soldiers. In this, and every other instance 
where we have been invited to a feast by the Indians, we 
observed that they never eat with their guests. 

Tatanka VVechachita is the nephew of a man of con- 
siderable distinction among these Dakotas. Since the 
death of his uncle he has attempted to be considered as 
his successor; but the former was never duly acknowl- 
edged as chief, this title residing in Nunpakea, a man of 
considerable bravery, who, by the influence of his family 
and his talents, acquired that dignity in preference to his 
first cousins on the death of their father. 

Our host boasted of many flags and medals which his 
uncle had obtained from our government, and which were 
then in his possession ; these and the influence of his great 
magician may probably secure to him the dignity to which 
he aspires if he has talent enough to uphold it. After the 
feast was over our host rose, shook hands with all the 
gentlemen of our party, then resumed his seat and de- 
livered a speech which at the time appeared to us very 
pertinent and interesting. It was delivered with apparent 
feeling, but not without some hesitation. Having ex- 
pressed to Renville our satisfaction at the speech, he 
immediately observed that it expressed too much adula- 
tion and too much whining; had Tatanka Wechachita 



268 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1823. 

been the chief that he professed himself to be, his tone 
would have been more imposing, and his style more dig- 
nified and decisive. 

" Brothers, the subject upon which I am to address you 
is grievous to me ; and this grief is the motive which has 
thus far prevented me from speaking to you. Since the 
lamented death of my revered uncle, who died last year, I 
have been called upon to succeed him, but as I am not 
endued with experience to know how to direct myself, I 
shall follow the advice which I have received from him, 
and therefore I rejoice at seeing you, and I am gratified 
at your visit. 

" I regret that my followers are now all absent. This is 
our hunting season. In the autumn we collect in our vil- 
lages to meet the traders. Had you seen us thus col- 
lected, you would have found me at the head of a large 
and powerful band of men. At present I am alone ; still 
I am pleased to see you. 

" Brothers, there are two roads which we Dakotas 
usually travel ; my uncle trod both these paths. The first 
led him to the British, far towards the rising sun. From 
them he received both kindness and honor ; they made 
him many presents, among which were flags and medals. 
The other road led him to the Americans at St. Louis ; 
this road he subsequently travelled. From them he, in 
like manner, received flags and medals. These he has 
bequeathed all to me. 

" I should have unfurled my flags at your approach, but 
I am unacquainted with the customs of your nation, and I 
am new in the duties of my rank. I am ignorant how to 
act ; but I am desirous of following the advice of my 
dying uncle, who bade me remain at peace with the 
Americans, and always consider them as my friends ; 
and as such I hold you. 



1823. HOSTILES. 269 

" My friends, I am poor and very destitute ; not so was 
my uncle. But I have as yet followed neither of the roads 
which he travelled. Since I have been called upon to rule 
over my people I have dwelt among them, and have not 
been able to visit St. Louis in order to obtain presents of 
powder and tobacco. 

" I have already told you that my followers are absent ; 
they are hunting at the north ; I have left with them my 
flags. I know not whither you are going, but I presume 
you may meet them. They will exhibit to you my flags, 
and you will know them, for they are those of your nation. 
I shall send them word of your intention to travel that 
way, and bid them if they see you to treat you with 
becoming respect, assist you, supply you with provisions, 
and with whatever else you may require. 

" My friends, I am poor, and could not do much ; but 
I have prepared this little feast. You have partaken of it, 
and it has gratified me. I am young, and inexperienced 
in speaking, but I have done my best. Again I thank 
you for your flattering visit." 

While riding quietly across the prairie, with the eye 
intent upon the beautiful prospect of the buffaloes that 
were grazing, our attention was suddenly aroused by the 
discharge of a gun in the vicinity of the river (Red River), 
which flowed about half a mile west of the course that we 
were then travelling. While we were reckoning up our 
party to know if any had straggled to a distance, we saw 
two Indians running across the prairie ; their number 
increased very soon to twelve or fifteen, who hastened 
towards us, but as soon as they came near our party, 
stopped and examined us with minuteness, after which 
they presented their hands to us ; we gave them ours. It 
was immediately observed that they were in a complete 



27O S 'TORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1823. 

state of preparation for war, being perfectly naked with 
the exception of the breech-cloth. They had even laid 
their blankets by. All of them were armed with guns, ap- 
parently in very good order, or with bows and arrows, and 
some with both. Their appearance, though at first friendly, 
soon became insulting. Their party had, in the mean 
while, increased to thirty or forty, so that they out- 
numbered ours. We found that they belonged to the 
Wahkpakota or Leaf Indians, whose character, even 
among their own countrymen, is very bad. We availed 
ourselves of Mr. Snelling's knowledge of the language to 
communicate to them, in the course of conversation, our 
objects and intentions, as well as the friendly reception 
which we had met with on the part of Wanotan and the 
other Indians whom we had seen. In a tone rather 
imperative than courteous, they expressed their wish that 
we should go to their camp and speak to their old chief. 
This we declined doing, informing them that some of our 
party had separated from us, and that we had a long 
journey to travel. 

They pointed to the sun, which was then low in the 
horizon, and added that we had no time to proceed 
further, and that we had better encamp with them that 
night. 

While this conversation was going on Mr. Say remarked 
that, either through design or accident, the Indians had 
intermixed themselves so with our party that every one 
of our number was placed between two or more of theirs. 
Mr. Snelling overheard them talking of our horses, admir- 
ing them, and examining the points of each ; one of their 
band had even ventured so far as to ask him which horse 
was considered the best of the party. 

Finding that all further conversation was a waste of 



1S23. THREATS. 27I 

time, and having given them as much tobacco as our 
small stock allowed us to spare, Major Long mounted his 
horse and gave his men orders to march. The Indians 
attempted no opposition at the time, but after we had 
travelled about a quarter of a mile, they following in our 
rear, a gun was fired at some distance on the prairie to 
the right of our line, and a number of mounted Indians 
were seen in that direction coming towards us. Those 
who had followed us then made a signal to them that we 
were white men, and ran up to desire that, as their chief 
was then coming up, we would stop and shake hands with 
him. The party halted until the mounted Indians had 
come up and greeted us in the usual manner. Observing 
that their chief was not among them, Major Long again 
set his men in motion, but before we had proceeded far 
several of them ran up to the head of the line, fired their 
guns across our path, reloaded them immediately, and 
formed a crescent in front of the leader to prevent him 
from proceeding. At that time the number of Indians 
must have been about seventy or eighty, while ours 
amounted only to twenty-five. Their intentions could not 
be misunderstood. It was probable they did not care to 
harm our persons, but they were anxious to pilfer our bag- 
gage, and especially to secure our horses ; and as we were 
resolved not to part with them without a struggle, it was 
evident that the first gun fired would be the signal for an 
attack which must end in the total destruction of our 
party ; for the number of the Indians, and their mode of 
dispersing upon the prairie, and continually changing their 
situation during a skirmish, would have given them a very 
great advantage over us, as, in order to protect our horses 
and baggage, we would have remained in a body, and ex- 
posed to their arrows and balls. But even in such a case 



272 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1S23. 

they must have lost some of their number, and this con- 
sideration, all-powerful with Indians, probably induced 
them to defer their attack until night, when their advan- 
tages would be still greater ; and hence their anxiety that 
we should encamp in the vicinity. Had Major Long 
been entirely free to act as he pleased he would have 
avoided all further conversation, and have proceeded the 
whole night without stopping at all that evening ; but this 
he could not do so long as some of the gentlemen were 
separated from us, for in such a case they would easily have 
been cut off by the Indians. It was to give them a chance 
to overtake us that he had continued the conference so 
long, and that he finally decided upon encamping at a 
point of wood then in sight, but further than that which 
had been proposed by the Indians. 

With this view the Major ordered his men to march, 
when one of the Indians advanced up to the head of the 
line, stopped the horse of the leader, and cocked his gun. 
The soldier who was there, and whose name was George 
Bunker, immediately imitated this action, determined to 
be prepared for a shot as soon as his antagonist. At this 
moment Major Long marched up to the head of the line 
and led off his party. There can be no doubt that the 
resolution thus manifested had a great influence in pre- 
venting the Indians from making an immediate attack. 
The party being again safely united, Major Long consider- 
ing that if an attack was intended it would be made a short 
time before daylight, determined to allow the horses to 
rest until midnight, when the moon, rising, would make it 
safe and pleasant to travel. Accordingly at that hour we 
resumed our line of march. Our preparations were made 
with the greatest expedition and silence, so as not to be 
observed by the Indians at a distance, and to avoid dis- 



1823- BUFFALO HUNT. 2J$ 

turbing the old Indian sleeping, or affecting to sleep, 
under one of our carts. In the latter purpose, however, 
we failed ; the old man awoke, and seeing what we were 
about, he left us immediately, notwithstanding the attempt 
made to amuse him with conversation until we should be 
ready to start ; but we could not detain him ; we saw him 
walk over the prairie, and by the light of the moon traced 
his figure until he approached near to the river, when he 
disappeared in the woods. This was the last Dakota 
whom we saw. . . . 

Had not our attention been seriously occupied by the 
hostile disposition manifested by these Indians we should 
have taken much interest in witnessing one of their great 
diversions. 

Some time before we met them we observed a fine 
buffalo bull, who seemed to challenge a combat with our 
party ; he travelled for about two miles abreast of us, and 
almost within gun-shot ; his eyes were intently bent upon 
us. Though occasionally driven off by our dog, he would 
constantly return, and continue in a parallel line, as though 
he were watching our motions. This fearless character, so 
unlike that of buffaloes in general, excited our surprise and 
admiration ; and accordingly we determined to spare him 
and see how long he would continue to travel with us. 
But the noble animal offered too strong a temptation to 
the Indians. Seeing him stop at the same place where we 
halted, a few of them, especially the youngest of the party, 
ran up to him, and in a few moments several balls and 
perhaps a dozen arrows had reduced the animal to his last 
gasp. They then approached on all sides, and while he 
was engaged in keeping off those on his left the youths 
on his right would come so near him as to draw his atten- 
tion to them ; the animal appeared galled, his rage was 

iS 



274 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1823. 

extreme, but his weakness was equally so. At length some 
of them came very near to him and caught hold of his 
tail : at this moment he was observed to be tottering ; 
they all drew off, the animal fell, and after two or three 
convulsive throes he expired. A shout from the Indians 
announced the death of their victim. This seemed to be 
a schooling for the youngest of their party, a few of whom 
were mere boys. 



XII. 

SIBERIA AND KAMCHATKA. 

THEY were talking abont the Nihilists, and being 
exiled to Siberia. Some of the children had been 
at the theatre two years ago, and had seen the Exiles of 
Siberia, with white paper snow, and real oxen to draw the 
sledge. 

Bertha asked, with a shudder, whether anybody ever 
came back to tell the story. 

" Why, Bertha, Uncle Fritz himself built a telegraph 
across the Lake of Baikal." 

Then they all looked at Uncle Fritz. But he would 
not go into any detail of his Siberian adventures. It is a 
subject on which he is always shy. But the boys got out 
"The Ingham Papers," and began looking for " Nofpo 
Ston " on the map. 

" If you will go to the fountain of all knowledge," said 
Will Withers, " that is, to Robinson Crusoe, you will 
have a good travelling knowledge of Siberia." 

" Siberia ! " cried Alice. " It is not a year since you all 
said that Robinson Crusoe lived in the Oronooko. 1 I was 
disgraced. I thought he lived in Juan Fernandez before. 
And now I am told that he raised his melons under the 
shade of an avalanche, and that the savages were clothed 

1 See Stories of the Sea, p. 107. 



276 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1881. 

in bear-skins, and skated across to his island. I am in 
despair." 

" My dear Alice," said Will, who is very fond of her, 
" if he had never come back from the ' great river Oro- 
nooko,' we should never have known anything about 
him." 

" All the same," the girl persisted, " he came home to 
England. The fact of his coming home does not prove 
that the book told about Siberia. Now see here, — here 
is dear Uncle Fred's table copy." 

As has been said already, Robinson Crusoe is one of 
seven books always at Uncle Fritz's side. Sure enough, 
there was not a word about Siberia on the titlepage. 

But Will was not to be defeated. " Why do you read 
me the titlepage to the first volume?" he said. Then he 
turned to the title of the second volume, " The Further 
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe." 

" You see he went to Nanquin, where your famous 
Capt. Cleveland could not go. A Chinese exclusiveness 
had not been settled on then. He went to the great city 
of Peking, and here he sold opium, among other things." 

" Just as he had sold slaves before," said Alice, and she 
pretended to shudder. " A famous hero, indeed ! " 

" My dear Alice, it was the error of his time. That is 
what you must always say." And the boy rapidly turned 
the pages. " See ! ' Robinson joins a caravan proceeding 
to Moscow,' and here, ' I could not but discover an in- 
finite satisfaction that I was so soon arrived in a Christian 
country.' " 

" But here," persisted Alice, " they are burning an idol." 

" I cannot help that," said poor Will, who was no match 
for her in changing his ground and hopping from point to 
point. " All the same, it was Siberia " ; and as he turned 



1S12. A POORGA. 277 

he read in triumph, " I came to Tobolski, the capital city 
of Siberia, where I continued some time." 

" I should think he would," said Uncle Fred. " There 
is a very decent hotel there now. I stayed there a good 
while. I saw the annual gathering of the convicts before 
they were scattered to the villages. Tobolsk is the place 
where they meet." 

" Uncle Fred, you should write your travels in Siberia. 
If no one has been there since poor Robinson Crusoe, and 
nobody but Will Withers knows that, you should make a 
book." 

The old gentleman smiled grimly. But he said that 
plenty of people had gone to Kamchatka and to Siberia 
also. And he sent Alice for Peter Dobell's travels. 
u That 's a very good book, and you may read me to 
sleep by hunting up my marks in it. I read that book as 
I was floating down the Obi River on a timber raft." 

" I had a great deal rather read your book, Uncle 
Fritz," said the girl, with admiration. 

" For that, my dear child, you must wait till it is 
written." So Alice began : — 

A POORGA. 

We were happy on the 9th to inhale the fresh air, and 
leave our smoky habitation at Timlatee to pursue our 
journey, which now lay over a mountainous country, along 
the sea-coast, and almost wholly bare of timber. The 
morning was clear and cold, but the wind blew rather 
fresh from the sea, and the white clouds hurried rapidly 
over the blue expanse. About ten o'clock the Toyune of 
Govenskoy came to me and said, " We must not stop at 
twelve to-day, as usual, to take our luncheon, as I perceive 



278 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

we are going to have one of those cold poorgas, which on 
these plains are very violent ; and we may be frozen to 
death, should we not chance to meet with the Reindeer 
Karaikees. For a long distance," added he, " there is no 
house, or hut, or any sort of shelter : therefore order your 
people to push on, and keep close together ; for if the 
Karaikees are here, they will be on the middle of the 
moor, but yet a considerable distance from us." 

Knowing how well the natives of that country under- 
stand the weather, although I could see nothing that 
indicated a storm, I gave orders as he directed, and he 
led the way with his own dogs. These, he said, were 
his hunting dogs, and could be relied on. We went on 
quite well, and briskly, until a little before twelve o'clock, 
when, all of a sudden, the wind began to blow with great 
violence, and, drifting the snow in quantities, thickened 
the atmosphere so that we could not see a yard before us. 
For the first part of our progress the sky above our heads 
was clear ; but this, after a while, became covered with 
black clouds, and a kind of sharp sleet descended, which 
was borne on the wind so violently that we could no 
longer keep our faces to windward, and were obliged to 
stop. As we had lost our way from the commencement, 
the Toyune came to me to hold a consultation as to what 
was to be done. I told him he was an inhabitant of the 
country, and must be the better judge, and I should leave 
it to him to decide. He said, "As it is impossible to 
make a fire, if we remain here and the poorga continues 
all night, we shall all be frozen to death. We had, there- 
fore, better keep moving ; but don't you give a dram to 
any one till I tell you ; for watky is not good at such a 
time. I have great confidence in my dogs, and if there is 
a reindeer on the plain they will find him." 



iSi2. A POORGA. 



279 



After this speech he pushed on his dogs to take what 
road they liked, first giving orders to the party to watch 
each other strictly and not to separate on any account. 
To our surprise the dogs, instead of taking what we im- 
agined to be the road, turned off from the sea and brought 
the wind nearly on our backs. Although this alarmed 
many, who thought they were going wrong, they found it 
much more comfortable than to go against the sharp sleet 
which tore the skin from their faces. We continued 
travelling in this manner for upwards of two hours. The 
poorga raged with redoubled fury; the clouds of sleet 
rolled like a dark smoke over the moor, and we were all 
so benumbed with cold that our teeth chattered in our 
heads. The sleet, driven with such violence, had got 
into our clothes, and penetrated even under our parkas, 
and into our baggage, wherever there was the smallest 
crevice. 

At length the Toyune's dogs began to snuff the air, bark 
loudly, and set out at full speed. It was like a shock of 
electricity. The rest of the dogs followed this example, 
and strained every nerve to keep pace with them. Our 
hearts now beat high, for we were sure the dogs smelt the 
reindeer, and this emotion had already infused a warmth 
through our veins, as we anticipated the happiness of find- 
ing shelter from a dreadful storm that threatened us with 
death. In about ten minutes more we had the ineffable 
pleasure of finding ourselves near a large Karaikee jourta, 
where we saw a fine fire blazing. The Karaikees had all 
run out with their clubs and spears to defend their rein- 
deer from the dogs, which our drivers, benumbed as they 
were, could hardly keep from running on the herd that 
surrounded the jourta. The Karaikees, who were to lee- 
ward of us, had heard the dogs for some time, and, antici- 



28o STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

pating our arrival, had already killed a fine fat buck, and 
the women were skinning him when we arrived. 

Our host was a fine hospitable old man, who possessed 
a herd of nearly three hundred sleek reindeer, and he 
seemed overjoyed to have us for guests. He made me 
sit down on some nice warm bear-skins spread near the 
fire, which was in the centre of the jourta. Behind me 
was a place apart, well hung and lined with deer-skins, for 
me to sleep on. 

• My interpreter, who was of Karaikee origin, found out 
at last that the host was a relation of his. This circum- 
stance occasioned much joy, and was the cause of the 
death of another fine buck to regale his relation. The 
Toyune of Evashka being in possession of an order from 
government to collect the tax and tribute from the Rein- 
deer Karaikees in that quarter, he made the interpreter 
explain his powers to the other Toyune, and ask him if he 
was prepared to pay them. He replied that he would 
pay the tribute with great cheerfulness, but he could not 
pay the tax in money, because he had none, nor did he 
know how to get it. " I wish," said he to me, " as you 
are going to St. Petersburg you would tell the Emperor 
that the Reindeer Karaikees, though a wild people, are 
good loyal subjects, and are always ready to pay the 
tribute in furs, although they cannot pay him money. Our 
habits of life," continued he, " are such that we never 
buy or sell anything for money • how then can he expect 
us to find it? When I want tobacco, knives, kettles, 
needles, or watky, I buy them with fox, sable, and deer 
skins, and I know nothing farther of trade ; besides, I have 
heard that amongst you who trade for money the effect 
often spoils the heart and creates bad blood between man 
and man. I am glad, therefore, there is so little money 



1812. GRATITUDE. 28 1 

amongst our Karaikees, who are warm-tempered." After 
having made this speech, which was delivered in a serious 
tone, he ordered a bundle of fox and sable skins to be 
brought, and, throwing them at the feet of the Toyune, 
"There," said he, "is our tribute. Let the interpreter 
write me a paper and do you sign it to say you have 
received it." 

This request being complied with, and the afternoon 
being very fine and serene, we deemed it best to resist the 
kind invitation of the chief to pass the night with him, 
and proceeded on our journey. After leaving Tolbachik, 
the roads were good, and we soon arrived at Oushkee. 
Here the inhabitants were few, and those few miserable. 
I therefore distributed some presents amongst them which 
I had brought for that purpose. My distribution was 
nearly finished when I observed a lad whose features I 
recognized, and I immediately asked him where he be- 
longed. He said, " I am from the Tigil coast, and have 
been sent here to assist travellers, and I helped to row 
you down the river last summer. As I have been always 
very busy I have been but once at the chase ; but I killed 
a sable, and I kept it on purpose to repay your kindness 
for the knife and flints you gave me." Seeing that this 
poor fellow was misery personified, not a shirt on his back, 
and the skin dress he had on all in tatters, I refused to 
accept his offer. He burst into tears and was about to 
leave the room when I made him return, and took his 
sable from him in return for what I had ordered to be 
given him, at which he seemed quite happy. 

"Look further on," said Uncle Fritz. "Find that which 
I have marked ' A Gentle Hint.' It tells how they cut 
short visits when the stores run low." 



282 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

And Hugh read first : — 

A GENTLE HINT. 

The Kamtchadales are not only grateful for favors, but 
they think it absolutely necessary to make some return for 
a present, and are highly offended if it is refused. One 
of my Chinese servants, who was a very good-hearted 
fellow, was so affected at the circumstance I have told 
and the miserable appearance of the boy, that he went 
and brought one of his blue Nankin shirts and made him 
a present of it. 

All the Kamtchadales I met with were Christians of 
the Greek persuasion, and appeared attentive to their 
devotions. Their hospitality is excessive, and it is carried 
to an extreme amongst themselves that becomes ridicu- 
lous. They pay one another visits which last for a month 
or six weeks, until the generous host, finding his stock of 
provisions exhausted, is forced to give a hint to his guest 
to take his departure. This is managed by presenting to 
him at dinner a dish called tolkootha, a kind of olio, or 
hodge-podge, composed of a number of meats, fish, and 
vegetables, all mixed together, and very difficult to prepare. 
It is the dernier ressort of the master of the house, and the 
moment this dish is served up the guests take the hint 
and leave him the following day without feeling in the 
least dissatisfied. 

The first thing a traveller must do, on arriving at a 
Kamtchadale house, is to treat the family with tea, of 
which they are excessively fond. I once saw a Kamtcha- 
dale drink eleven half-pint bowls of tea at a sitting, and 
he declared he could have completed the dozen had there 
been water enough in the kettle. They speak very slowly, 



i8i2. PRINCE ZACIIAR. 283 

with rather an effeminate voice, making use of the simplest 
language, but almost always with good sense. When they 
do not wish to come to the point directly they convey 
their meaning by some curious allegory, having relation to 
bears, dogs, fishing, and hunting. 

PRINCE ZACHAR. 

A circumstance occurred whilst we were at Govenskoy 
that inspired me with respect for the greatness of soul, the 
courage, and the sang-froid exhibited by my friend, the 
Prince Zachar, and revealed to me at once the cause of 
the great influence he possessed over the Karaikees of the 
coast. My Klutchee Kyoorchiks begged of me to give 
them some watky to buy reindeer, silk, parkas, and boots, 
and one of the prince's men, who had drunk too much of 
it, became quite furious. With a large knife in his hand 
he sought the prince, crying out that he was an unjust 
man, and he would stab him. The other Karaikees tried 
in vain to stop him until he had got quite near to the 
prince's dwelling, when he called with all his force, "Come 
out, Zachar, if you dare ! I am prepared to kill you ! " 
Zachar, who was quietly drinking tea with me, heard all of 
a sudden this extraordinary summons, which the interpreter 
immediately explained to me. The prince put down his 
cup of tea and, rising slowly from his seat, went out of the 
jourta. I followed him closely, with a pair of loaded 
pistols, which I always kept ready in case of necessity. 
When he perceived that I followed him he desired the 
interpreter would tell me not to interfere, as he would very 
soon settle the affair himself. During this time the drunk- 
en Karaikee foamed with rage and was trying to extricate 
himself from the crowd that surrounded him. Zachar, 



284 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

who had already thrown off his parka, now unbuttoned 
his shirt, exposed his breast, and ordering the crowd to 
stand aside, advanced boldly up to the Karaikee, and then, 
with a terrible voice and an undaunted countenance, he 
said to him, " Here is the breast of your prince ; strike at 
it if you dare ! " The Karaikee seemed thunderstruck ; 
he raised his hand, but was afraid to strike, and the knife 
fell to the ground. " Coward," said Zachar, " you have 
saved your life, for if you had aimed a blow at me I 
would have thrown you down at the, same instant, and 
your own knife should have drawn your heart's blood." 
He then ordered his men to confine him till he should be 
sober, and returned with me to finish his tea. 

THE REINDEER. 

The reindeer may fairly be called the ox of these coun- 
tries, and not the horse, as some people have called him. 
He does not possess either the noble temper or the docil- 
ity of the latter animal. When the snow is deep and the 
roads are difficult, if the reindeer be pressed to exert him- 
self, he becomes restive and stubborn, and neither beating 
nor coaxing will move him. He will lie down and remain 
in one spot for several hours, until hunger presses him for- 
ward ; and if, at the second attempt, he is again embar- 
rassed, he will lie down and perish in the snow for want of 
food. 

A Karaikee related to me the story of a keeper whose 
herd was dispersed in that way, but who, by very great 
exertions, after four or five days, collected them together 
again. However, he found he had wandered far beyond 
his usual haunts, and lost his way, so that he remained 
and roamed about with his herd nearly two years before 



1812. SLEEPING IN SNOW. 285 

he had the good fortune to meet with any of the Reindeer 
Karaikees. 

We had now arrived at the last Karaikee ostrog on that 
coast, and it became necessary to direct our course to 
Kammina, across the moors, for two hundred and fifty 
versts, where there was scarcely a forest, much less a hut, 
to afford us shelter from the weather, should it prove bad 
again. 

Here I separated from my friends, the Toyune of 
Evashka and the Prince Zachar, with real regret, for they 
had behaved to me with the kindness of brothers. On 
parting Zachar observed to me, " You are too late in 
the season ; but you must do the best you can. I there- 
fore advise you, even though the distance will be greater, 
to follow, as much as possible, the course of the creeks 
and rivers. There you will find shelter should a poorga 
commence ; but on the moors, at this late period, it is 
very dangerous." 

SLEEPING IN SNOW. 

Early on the morning of the 19th we started again. It 
began to snow not long after our departure, and before 
midday the wind had increased to a storm, and my guide 
said we should have a regular poorga. We therefore 
directed our course for a small creek or branch that unites 
Veyvinskoia to Kammina River. We were not long before 
we got there, and followed its winding course, whilst its 
high banks defended us from the rigors of the snow-storm. 
After travelling in this way about an hour, we stopped to 
prepare our dinner, but found the wind and snow beat 
over the banks with such violence that we could not keep 
our fire burning five minutes at a time. After many at- 



286 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1S12. 

tempts we persisted no longer, and contented ourselves 
with eating some cold boiled venison that had fortunately 
been prepared the day before ; and very happy were we 
that my Chinese cook had been so provident. By the 
time we had finished our cold repast, we found it impossi- 
ble to proceed any farther, and, drawing our sledges close 
under the windward bank of the creek, with the dogs in 
front, we passed the night on this dreary spot. A dismal 
night it was, for the snow and sleet beat in whirlwinds over 
the bank with unceasing violence ; and it was impossible 
to hold one's face towards the wind for an instant. Al- 
though I slept in a kibitka that I tried to close up as tightly 
as possible, the snow beat into the crevices ; and when I 
first awoke I found myself completely covered, and with 
difficulty extricated myself. The dogs, sledges, and men 
were so entirely concealed that I could only discern the 
marks where they lay ; and I beat about and trampled 
amongst them some time before I could rouse them. 

As the latter part of the night was warmer, and the snow 
fell in immense quantities, or rather drifted over us, we 
slept very warmly and comfortably. On the 20th, the 
wind having abated, and the weather proving mild, we de- 
termined to set off again, first spending an hour or two in 
shaking the snow off our clothes, baggage, and sledges, 
where it was found in abundance. It was absolutely 
necessary to depart, for not a stick of wood, nor even a 
twig, could we find to make a fire ; and we travelled on 
until near eleven o'clock in the day before we arrived 
where there was wood enough to boil the tea-kettle. With 
what pleasure and satisfaction did we swallow a warm and 
cheering cup of tea, that delicious beverage, far exceeding 
every other when one is cold and weary ! Ardent spirits 
will warm you more quickly, but their effects are not so 



1S12. SLEIGHING IN MAY. 287 

lasting, and occasion a stupor that makes you feel after- 
wards quite drowsy. 



SLEIGHING IN MAY. 

We got off early on the 8th, and, although the surface 
of the snow was still soft, I found we got forward much 
better than on the day before. Travellers in this country 
during the spring should always take advantage of the 
night ; indeed, the sun in the day being excessively hot, 
shining upon you for fourteen hours, and thawing a deep 
snow, is sufficient to prove the advantage of travelling by 
night. A tedious spring day, in a high northern latitude, 
with a hot sun reflected from the glassy surface of an im- 
mense snow-covered plain, entirely destitute of trees, not 
only inflames the eyes, but creates a lassitude of the body 
and mind. We had now a plain to cross of about a hun- 
dred versts in length, and about twenty versts in breadth, 
bounded on either side by steep mountains. Here the 
snow, which we frequently fathomed, was often four, and 
never less than three orshins deep, a measurement equal 
to from seven to nine English feet. We got away early 
on the 1 2th of May, and took care to move briskly, the 
surface being frozen, and still strong enough to bear the 
deer. The guide directed his course towards the centre 
of the plain, from an idea that when the snow became soft, 
we should find it not so deep there as close under the 
mountains. However, it proved the contrary ; and we 
were not a little alarmed at the fearful distance that lay 
between us and the only places where we could procure 
food for our deer, now scarcely able to crawl, either by 
driving or coaxing. 

Although I beat the road myself for them, on snow- 



288 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

shoes, they plunged in so deeply as to be obliged to stop 
and lie down every ten or twelve yards, panting for breath. 
My Karaikee interpreter, with one of the Tongusees, drew 
the sledge after them ; and about one o'clock in the day 
we were all so worn down we were obliged to rest our- 
selves. To add to our disappointment the nearest moun- 
tain appeared yet a considerable distance off. After a 
while the driver said we must continue our journey, and 
force the deer on in the best way we could, for if they re- 
mained twenty or thirty hours more without food, they 
would be too weak to proceed at all, and must perish in 
the snow. Indeed, I was well aware of the danger, and 
was prepared to walk as long as I had a sinew to support 
my tired limbs. 

Having been every day since I left Towisk on snow- 
shoes, I became a practised pedestrian in this way; nor 
found myself inferior to the natives of the country. In 
fact, without snow-shoes, I should have been like a man 
in the middle of the ocean, who knew not how to swim, 
and was without even a chip to save him from drowning. 
It was impossible to drive through such snows, when a 
deer with the greatest difficulty carried a small portion of 
baggage, and when that oftentimes was obliged to be taken 
from his back to enable him to extricate himself. I had 
taken care also to teach my servants to walk in snow-shoes 
whilst in Kamtchatka. 

Between six and seven in the evening I thought I per- 
ceived the last row of trees which intercepted our view of 
the mountains ; and we pushed eagerly on to pass it. Our 
disappointment was excessive when we could plainly dis- 
tinguish two more intersections ; but again, not seeing 
anything beyond them, we consoled ourselves with the 
idea that those were certainly the last. Arriving at them, 



i8i2. SLEIGHING IN MA Y. 289 

we were chagrined to find the largest stream we had yet 
encountered. This, however, after being completely soaked 
through, and our strength almost exhausted, we contrived 
to pass. When on the other side, there were yet some 
versts between us and the foot of the mountain, which the 
Karaikee declared he was too weak to accomplish. The 
Tongusee likewise complained, but said we were now so 
near that, if I could give him a little food of any sort to 
recruit his strength, we might remain on the spot where 
we were until the baggage- deer came up with us, while he 
would take his own to the mountains to pasture. I now 
recollected that my cook formerly kept in my sledge one 
of the small vessels with the deer's feet he had boiled 
down. On examination I found it, together with a little 
salt, and we were all not a little rejoiced thereat, being 
at a great distance from my baggage, and having taken 
nothing but water all the day. As we had no bread, and 
but a small portion of jelly for each person, we were obliged 
to make up the deficiency by drinking two or three large 
draughts of water. 

Scanty as was our repast, we were all much refreshed. 
I had often supped more plentifully, but certainly never 
with a better appetite. Immediately after, the Tongusee, 
whom I armed with a Spanish knife and a spear to protect 
him against the bears, left us, whilst the Karaikee and my- 
self collected wood, made a large fire, and placing a quan- 
tity of bushes before it on the snow, wrapped ourselves up 
in our parkas and went to sleep. 

Between three and four in the morning of the 13th, I 
was awaked by the arrival of my servants and the baggage- 
deer. They had followed the track we had made, without 
which, they said, the deer would never have been able to 
accomplish the distance. We now got a good breakfast, and 



29O STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

then started again under the hottest sun I had yet expe- 
rienced. Both deer and men suffered so much from the 
heat they could scarcely crawl, and it was eleven o'clock 
before we arrived at the mountain. Our deer were obliged 
to go to the summit before moss could be procured. 

After getting over the first mountain, on looking round 
to examine our party, we found these two fellows had 
absconded with two of the reindeer that were not laden. 
This was a most unpleasant circumstance, as I was told 
that they knew the road better than any of the rest. The 
road proved like that before described, except that the 
snow was not quite so deep. Descending the mountain, 
we came to an open stream, narrow, deep, and rapid, and 
were obliged to make a bridge to take over the sledges, 
the deer going about a verst higher up, where there was a 
spot fordable. One of them had the slender remains of 
my stock of biscuit and my skin coverings on his back, 
which he contrived to shake from him into the stream ; 
and, before we could recover them, the biscuits were all 
completely soaked and spoiled. Pitching our tent on a 
rising ground on the opposite side, I dried a dozen of 
them that were not broken in the sun ; the rest we con- 
sumed at once, as we perceived they would not keep in 
that state. 

A MOUNTAIN HOME. 

It was my intention, on going to rest, to have awakened 
about ten o'clock at night in order to set out early ; but 
the severe fatigue we had undergone the day before made 
me sleep soundly until after midnight. On awaking I 
called aloud for some time before any one came. At length 
one of my Chinese servants entered my tent, and told me 
the Tongusees were nowhere to be found ! I now roused 



I8l2. A MOUNTAIN HOME. 29 1 

my guide and the Karaikee, when, to our grief and aston- 
ishment, we perceived these unfeeling rascals had gone off 
in the night, not leaving us even a single deer for food, 
and returning by the road they came. We were now five 
in number, namely, the Cossack, a Karaikee, two Chinese 
servants, and myself, left, with all our baggage, on one of 
the highest mountains in Siberia, in a wild, uninhabited 
country ! We had already been twelve days from Towisk, 
and had therefore every reason to believe we were not 
more than three or four days' march from some Tongusee 
tabboon ; but, as we were all totally ignorant of the road, 
it was difficult to decide which way to direct our course. 
The Cossack, who did not deserve the name, was a per- 
fect woman in character, more alarmed than anybody 
else, frightening the young Karaikee and my servants, and 
proposing a hundred different schemes. I would not listen 
to any of them, until I had weighed the matter maturely, 
and examined well the country about us. The first thing, 
however, was to see what stock of provisions we had. I 
found it to consist of a few pounds of reindeer meat almost 
spoiled, two or three pounds of rice, a small quantity of 
Manilla sweet chocolate, our biscuits reduced in number 
to twelve, about the size of a dollar each, two or three 
small lumps of sugar remaining, and a very small quantity 
indeed of salt and pepper, but fortunately a little box full 
of good tea. After this review of our provisions, I felt 
assured that, with rigid economy, we could keep our 
bodies and souls together for at least twelve or fifteen 
days. In the mean time it was highly probable I should 
be able to shoot something to assist in preventing us from 
starving. I had a map of Kamtchatka that included the 
shores of the Ochotsk Sea, on the Siberian side, as far as 
Zamsk, and, assisted by a pocket-compass, showed me on 



2Q2 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

which side the sea lay. But the Cossack declared he had 
seen it the day before from the mountain on the opposite 
side of the rivulet. I therefore determined we should go 
together to a high peak only a few versts distant, to assure 
ourselves whether it was or was not the sea that he had 
seen. 

When about to depart we looked in vain for our snow- 
shoes, of which it appeared those fellows had robbed us 
to prevent our overtaking them suddenly. About six 
o'clock on the morning of the 1 7th we left the encamp- 
ment, and, although we kept in the tracks of the reindeer, 
we sunk above our knees at every step and suffered the 
severest fatigue before attaining the height from whence 
we expected to behold the sea. At the first view the 
expanse appeared to me no more than an immense extent 
of low ground covered with fog. The Cossack persisted 
to the contrary and showed me a valley on the opposite 
side where we could distinguish the trees and which 
appeared so very different from that before us that I was 
induced to give in to his opinion of its being the ocean. 
Not feeling perfectly satisfied, however, on the subject I 
told him we must visit, on the following morning, the 
ridge of mountains that surrounded us in the form of a 
crescent, about thirty versts in extent. This, I added, 
might be easily accomplished by making ourselves snow- 
shoes with the boards of our sledges. He seemed lost, 
and wavering every minute, sometimes proposing one 
thing and sometimes another, and at length asked that he 
and the Karaikee might go in search of reindeer men, 
while we remained on the mountain to await their return. 
I was obliged to put a stop to any further proposals of 
that kind by telling him that I was perfectly aware of his 
cowardice and deceit, and that, as I was ignorant of the 



l8i2. A DISAPPOINTMENT. 293 

character of the Karaikee, I should watch them both nar- 
rowly. " You see," said I, " how I am armed, and I shall 
put the first man to death who attempts anything improper 
or disobeys my orders." This threat had the desired 
effect ; he became instantly more obedient. On my 
return to the tent I armed my Chinese servants, privately 
desiring them to keep a strict watch on the other two, as 
I had reason to believe they wished to rob us of our pro- 
visions and make their escape. At night, before I went to 
sleep, I collected all the provisions together, also my little 
axe, knife, guns, and pistols, and slept near them. The 
Karaikee and Cossack I placed in the middle of the tent, 
and my Chinese servants at each side of them. 

I should have premised that previously to going to rest 
I visited another height, about two versts off, on the same 
side as that where our tent stood. Though I could not 
discover the sea I had the good fortune to find my snow- 
shoes amongst the bushes, the Tongusees having hidden 
them purposely. 

On the 1 8th of May, at three o'clock in the morning, 
we set out on our excursion after I had armed myself 
with two guns, in full hopes that, as we had seen some 
tracks in coming up the mountain, we should have the 
good fortune to meet with a bear. With much labor and 
fatigue we contrived to climb the summit of the highest 
mountain of the opposite ridge. We had now an exten- 
sive view of the country around us and were most wo- 
fully disappointed in beholding the sea that we thought 
we had seen the day before transmuted into trees, hills, 
and plains ! We now found ourselves immediately oppo- 
site our tent, having a steep descent to make, a rivulet of 
considerable size to cross in the valley, and the high 
mountain to ascend on which it stood. As the snow was 



294 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

soft and my snow-shoes large I drew them both together, 
and, sitting down on them, held my two guns with my left 
arm, the butts resting on the snow-shoes, and with a short 
stick in my right hand to guide myself I went down with 
the rapidity of lightning. The Cossack followed safely in 
my path. 

LOST IN A WILDERNESS. 

Our companions were greatly dejected on hearing that 
all appearance had vanished of the sea, which the Cos- 
sack was so confident of having seen. The Karaikee said 
he had been considering the distance we had made, and 
thought it was too great to attempt to return, and he was 
willing now to obey my orders and accompany me 
through whatever road I chose to take. I explained to 
them the necessity of firmness and an unaltered resolu- 
tion, telling them that they must put their trust in God, 
while exerting every nerve and all their fortitude of mind 
to keep themselves from sinking under the incessant 
fatigue we must inevitably experience, for that we had but 
a scanty allowance of food, and must push on in full 
hopes of being able to procure more by the road, though 
we could form no judgment as to when the period of our 
troubles and labors would arrive. 

I made the Cossack and the Chinese join their hands 
to ours, and, turning to the East, cross themselves as I 
did to confirm their promise, assuring them that I would 
eat, drink, sleep, and work the same as the rest, nor require 
of them one single act that I was not ready and willing 
to assist in performing myself. We left on this spot every- 
thing superfluous in the way of clothes, etc., making the 
sledges as light as possible. The Cossack and myself led 
the way. I soon perceived that we should have some 



i8i2. LOST IN A WILDERNESS. 295 

difficulty in accomplishing the business, but the danger 
was not so great as we imagined. Having only a scanty 
portion of food we drank tea twice every twenty-four hours, 
and in the morning we took thin rice-water, with a small 
lump of chocolate each, to make it palatable. We per- 
ceived that, laborious as was our march, this nourishment 
was enough to keep us alive until it should please Heaven 
to direct us where we might procure, with our guns, the 
means of living well. I was pleased at finding my com- 
panions more cheerful and seemingly determined to exert 
all their fortitude, courage, and perseverance so necessary 
to conquer difficulties and insure our safety. We were an 
unfortunate little band, thrown upon a wide wilderness, but 
relying on heaven and our good stars, entirely ignorant of 
the country, and having nothing but a pocket-compass to 
direct us towards the ocean, as to which, whether it was 
one hundred or twenty versts distant, we could not pos- 
sibly tell. . . . 

On the 31st we threw everything away except what was 
absolutely necessary. Just as we were about to depart, 
on the evening of this day, two wild geese flew over us. I 
fired at them and thought I had missed, but my Chinese 
boy declared he heard the shot strike and had seen them 
alight, about two hundred yards off, on a spot which he 
pointed out. The Cossack and myself repaired thither 
with all possible speed. One of the geese fled at our ap- 
proach, and the other that was wounded remained in the 
middle of a large bog, where, if shot, I was fearful we 
should find great trouble in getting it. After shooting it I 
entered the bog, but found the surface of a tough sod that 
sank down, bringing the mud and water to my middle 
without breaking. I had used the precaution to take a 
large stick in my hand, or I should not have been able to 



296 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 18 12. 

extricate myself. The sod at length broke and let me 
down to my arm-pits, and I was obliged to tell the Cos- 
sack, who was a much lighter man, to try what he could 
do. He succeeded remarkably well until he got nearly 
back with the goose, when he sunk suddenly up to his 
neck, and began to roar and bawl in a most hideous man- 
ner, being so alarmed at the same time that he could 
hardly make use of the stick. I had the utmost difficulty 
to get near him with the other stick, which he laid hold 
ofj and I pulled him out, almost suffocated with mud. 
Dangerous as was the situation of my companion, his 
ridiculous figure made me burst into a fit of laughter, and 
the Chinese joined me heartily ; this caused him to scream 
the more loudly, in order to impress me with the fuller 
idea of his perilous situation. When extricated from the 
bog he crossed himself a dozen times and then laughed as 
heartily as myself. Indeed, the goose was such a prize as 
gave us spirits to laugh. . . . 

In the evening I went to the summit of the mountain 
again, imagining that as the sun descended I might dis- 
cover better what was on the opposite side of some exten- 
sive low grounds that lay before us. Whilst there, and 
holding my compass to take the direction for our route of 
the following day, I thought I plainly saw, at a great dis- 
tance to the northward and eastward, three or four men, 
and as many reindeer or horses. I immediately called 
out to the two Chinese to light a large fire, and making 
the Cossack and Karaikee come up to me endeavored to 
point out to them the objects that had just met my eyes. 
Although I felt confident I saw men and animals moving, 
I could not with all my care direct their sight so as to dis- 
tinguish them, and they persisted in saying they could see 
nothing. This made me quite unhappy. . . . 



i8i2. LOST IN A WILDERNESS. 297 

Scarcely had we made our fire when the grass all around 
us was in a blaze, obliging us to move to another spot ; 
and the fire raged with such violence it was in vain to 
attempt extinguishing it. At length the woods — the whole 
country around — were on fire. We were not sorry for an 
accident that might, perhaps, if any of the natives were 
near, bring them to the spot. It also helped to destroy 
some large swarms of mosquitoes that plagued us not a 
little on our arrival. Indeed, we suffered almost as much 
from these insects as from fatigue and hunger. Those fly- 
ing leeches of Siberia never quitted us day or night, unless 
when on the mountains, or when the wind blew hard 
enough to sweep them away. We got off early on the 4th, 
and had a most fatiguing time till twelve o'clock, when the 
sun became so oppressive it was impossible to proceed any 
farther without refreshment. The skin being chafed from 
our shoulders, and our feet sore, added to the difficulty of 
wading the deep marshes that occurred at every instant ; we 
were all completely exhausted. My two Chinese, for the 
first time, lay down and began to cry ! I consoled them 
with the assurance that we must either discern the sea, or 
arrive at some place where we should find plenty of food, in 
the course of a day or two ; and that it was a folly to give 
up when we were now at the moment of getting over our 
difficulties. Taking out the rest of the small biscuits that 
I had carefully preserved, I divided them equally between 
the Cossack, the Karaikee, and themselves, and having 
boiled our kettle, and drunk heartily of tea, the whole 
party was soon put into good spirits again. As I kept no 
part of this slender provision for myself, it was some time 
before I could prevail upon the two Chinese to eat their 
biscuit without sharing it with me. However, I would 
not take it from them ; for, although I was tired, I did not 
feel my strength exhausted as they did. 



298 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

While my companions slept I drew on my boots, that 
scarcely deserved the name, and made an excursion with 
my gun to see if I could find any game, and also to ex- 
amine the route necessary to be pursued in the afternoon. 
It grieved me considerably to perceive that the impedi- 
ments we had met in the morning increased so much as to 
render it necessary to proceed due south. I was almost 
in despair, when I beheld six large sea-gulls flying in that 
direction, and which at length seemed to alight near a 
forest some distance off, which place, however, I thought 
we should be able to reach, by exerting ourselves, before 
seven or eight in the evening. I returned immediately to 
my companions, who were not a little delighted by this 
joyful news, the Karaikee assuring me there must be a 
large river or lake near, as the kind of gulls I had seen 
strongly indicated this. 

We now found the way moss-covered, dry, and even, 
and between six and seven in the evening arrived at the 
forest. To our great astonishment we beheld what we 
supposed a narrow lake of great length, forming a cres- 
cent, the opposite banks being also covered with fine 
timber. Here we determined to pass the night, and 
pitched our tent behind a small copse, that concealed it 
from the lake, in order to prevent its frightening away any 
water-fowl that might visit it. This being accomplished, 
leaving the Chinese and Cossack to boil the tea-kettle, the 
Karaikee and myself went to examine the lake. On ap- 
proaching the banks I discovered two small ducks quite 
near the shore, and had the good fortune to shoot them 
both at one shot. Running to the water-side to pick 
them up, God only knows the inexpressible joy that filled 
our hearts when we beheld the water move, and satisfied 
our senses that we were on the banks of a large river. It 



i8i2. LOST IN A WILDERNESS. 299 

was somewhat remarkable that the obstacles I had met 
with during the last two days, and which disheartened me 
so much, had yet, by turning me aside from the route I 
wished to take, been the cause of our falling in with this 
fine stream so favorable to our wishes. We felt satisfied 
it must bring us to the ocean, from which, by all appear- 
ances, we could not be far removed. My companions 
were overjoyed beyond measure at this discovery, since we 
could now make a raft, and descend to the sea without 
undergoing such severe fatigue as heretofore, not to men- 
tion the pleasing anticipation of being daily enabled to 
procure plenty of food. 

On the 6th of June I went out very early with my gun, 
but finding no game, picked some handfuls of keesletya to 
make soup for our dinner with the remaining duck, and 
returned to my companions. A number of fine trees lay 
before us on the ground. I therefore marked out those 
which I thought best suited for our raft. The Cossack 
said he would cut them whilst I should go out in search 
of food, so that we all might be enabled to work the fol- 
lowing morning, and leave that place in the evening. Al- 
though I walked a considerable distance during the morn- 
ing, and saw a deer and several geese, ducks, and gulls, 
they were all so wild it was impossible to get within shot 
of them. I returned, quite dejected and tired, along the 
banks of the river, seating myself in the bushes, about two 
hundred yards above our tent, where I was determined to 
stay and shoot something to afford us a dinner on the fol- 
lowing day. It was not long before a gull came flying over 
my head. I shot it, and shortly after a fine duck that fell 
into the river just before me. Leaning on my gun, I pulled 
off my boots in order to wade after it. Just as I had got 
them off, seeing the current seizing my prize, I rushed into 



300 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

the water, fearful of losing it, and forgetting I had a gun 
in my hand until I was out of my depth and obliged to 
swim. The weight of my clothes and of the double-bar- 
relled fowling-piece embarrassed me so much that I could 
not keep myself above water, and, sinking several times, I 
was at length obliged to let go my favorite gun, and even 
then with difficulty kept myself from sinking. Luckily, 
some bushes grew up not far below me, having their tops 
above the water, which I attained and laid hold of, though 
. I still found myself out of my depth. Here the duck was 
entangled, and I secured it. There was a bush for every 
four or five yards between me and the shore, and I swam 
from one to another, holding the duck in my mouth, and 
arriving where it was shallow enough to wade before my 
friends got near enough to aid me. I regretted exceed- 
ingly the loss of a gun that had been so useful, but we had 
two remaining which were sufficient for our purpose. On 
the 7th we all labored hard to finish our raft, as we had 
food for that day, and were to trust to our good stars to 
furnish us on the following. I employed myself in cutting 
down immediately two large dead trees for the side-pieces ; 
and before two o'clock in the day we had all the timbers 
well lashed together, and the raft ready to be launched in 
the water. After dinner we launched our raft, which to our 
great joy did not swim too low, and proved in fact every- 
thing that we could have wished. It was composed of 
fifteen lower timbers, of the thickness of a man's thigh, and 
about sixteen or eighteen feet long, two cross-pieces at 
each end, to which they were strongly lashed with manilla 
rope and thongs, and a layer of poles and bushes placed 
above all to sit on. Thus prepared, we placed our bag- 
gage upon it, and committed ourselves to the surface of a 
fine large river with a current running at the rate of more 



lSi2. LOST IN A WILDERNESS. 30 1 

than five miles an hour. Before quitting this place we all 
returned thanks to Heaven in the most solemn manner for 
having conducted us thus far in safety, and prayed fer- 
vently for a continuation of the Almighty protection we 
had so often experienced. We soon discovered a material 
difference between walking and our present method of 
travelling, having floated at our ease, before nine at night, 
a greater distance than we had made during any three 
days before. We had also the pleasure, for the first time, 
of being free from mosquitoes and gnats. Just before we 
stopped for the night I killed a fine large sheldrake that 
came flying by. I determined to stop every night at ten 
or eleven o'clock, and start again at four in the morning, 
being fearful lest during the twilight we might run foul of 
rocks or trees in the way, and injure our raft so as to oblige 
us again to go on foot. We encamped this night close on 
the bank of the river amongst some dry grass, and not far 
from a mountain called Sunkapskoy, which the Cossack 
thought he knew he had traversed in the winter, and near 
to which was a Tongusee tabboon. Between two and 
three in the morning a swan came floating down the river. 
I fired at it with my rifle, and missed. Seeing it fly toward 
a lake at the back of the tent, where we heard another one, 
I repaired thither and got a shot at it from behind a bush, 
within forty or fifty yards. The bird rose and flew a little 
way, and then to our great joy fell dead in the middle of 
the lake. The Cossack, tying two pieces of old timber 
together with a thong he had in his pocket, floated him- 
self along on them, and brought the swan safely to shore. 
This stock of animal food put the whole parcy in good 
spirits, and we continued our route on the raft, finding the 
current increasing every hour, and promising to convey us 
rapidly to the ocean. During the day I shot another swan 



302 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

and a duck. We soon discovered that the mountain that 
the Cossack thought he knew was much farther from the 
sea than he imagined, and after we had floated near it, he 
did not recollect any of the country around. The river 
was extremely crooked, sometimes carrying us west, some- 
times east, and in fact to all points of the compass. On 
the 8th,. in the evening, we stopped early, and had, for the 
first time since we left the mountain, what we thought a 
good supper, though we were still fearful of consuming 
meat more than once a day, the wild fowl being exces- 
sively shy and difficult to shoot. 

The weather became so raw and uncomfortable, being 
accompanied with a drizzling rain, that we stopped earlier 
than usual, and continued to halt until four o'clock in the 
morning of the 10th, when we proceeded again, though a 
chill fog prevailed, and a good deal of wind. We had a 
most unpleasant time, but, anxious to arrive at the ocean, 
would not lie by, particularly as the stream had increased 
in rapidity, and now hurried us along with considerable 
swiftness. About one o'clock, although we were nearly in 
the middle of the river, which was here upwards of a verst 
wide, we were suddenly seized by a whirlpool ; and in spite 
of our utmost efforts, having nothing but poles to guide 
the raft, were drawn violently towards the left bank, and 
forced under some large trees, which had been undermined 
by the water, and hung over the surface of the stream, the 
roots still holding them fast to the shore. I saw the dan- 
ger to which we were exposed, and called out to every one 
to lie flat on his face and hold fast to the baggage. The 
branches were so thick it was impossible for all to escape, 
and there being barely room to admit the raft under them, 
they swept off the two Chinese, the Karaikee, my tin box 
with all my papers and valuables, our soup-kettle, etc., etc. 



I8l2. LOST IN A WILDERNESS. 303 

Nothing now remained but a small tea-kettle and a few 
other things that happened to be tied fast with thongs. 
The Karaikee and one of the Chinese seized hold of the 
branches that swept them off, and held their heads above 
water, but the youngest of the Chinese having floated away 
with the current, the Cossack and myself had the greatest 
difficulty in paddling the raft up to him. We came just 
in time to poke our poles down after him as he sank for 
the third time. Fortunately he seized it, and we drew 
him upon the raft half drowned. As the current was run- 
ning at the rate of six or seven miles an hour, we were 
carried more than half a verst down before we gained the 
shore. The other Chinese and the Karaikee crying out 
aloud for assistance, I ran up the shore as quickly as I 
could, taking a long pole with me, and leaving the Cos- 
sack to take care of the raft and the young Chinese. 
When I arrived at the spot my Chinese cook informed me 
he had seized my tin box with one hand, and was so tired 
of holding with the other that, if I did not come soon to 
his assistance, he must leave it to the mercy of the current. 
Whilst I attempted to walk out on the body of the tree, 
whose branches they were holding, one of the roots broke, 
and very nearly separated it from the shore. I was there- 
fore obliged to jump off and stride to one that was two 
feet under water, hauling myself along by the branches of 
the others, and at length I got near enough to give the 
Chinese a pole. He seized fast hold, and I pulled him 
between two branches, enabling him to get a leg over one, 
and keep his body above water. Thus placed, he tied the 
tin box with his handkerchief to the pole, and I got it 
safely ashore. I was now obliged to return and assist the 
Karaikee, who held by some branches far out, and where 
there were no others near enough for him to reach, in 



304 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

order to draw himself in. After half an hour's labor I 
got them both on the bank, neither of them knowing 
how to swim, and both much exhausted by the cold and 
the difficulty of holding so long against a rapid current. 
As the wind commenced blowing very hard, we concluded 
to stay all that day where we were, it being likewise neces- 
sary to dry our clothes, papers, etc., which were all com- 
pletely wet. 

In the afternoon the wind died away, and the sun shone 
out clear, when I commenced drying my papers, and 
found many of the most valuable of them totally ruined. 
The ink in some was quite effaced, and others were so 
stuck together that they were destroyed in my attempting 
to separate them. At six in the evening we made an ex- 
cursion along the banks of the river, to see if we could 
discover any of the things we had lost, and kill some game. 
In our rambles we frightened a duck from off her nest, 
and got six eggs. Shortly after I killed a swan with my 
rifle, and the poor Karaikee going for it, had the pleasure 
to find his bundle of clothes that had been swept from the 
raft. We had lost nearly all our cooking utensils : fortu- 
nately our spoons and cups were in our pockets. A small 
tea-kettle without a cover had to serve for every purpose. 
The top of my tin box we employed as a dish, pouring our 
soup into it that we might eat it more conveniently with 
our spoons. We felt severely the loss of our soup-kettle, 
being obliged to make our dinner and drink our tea from 
the same vessel. In consequence of the high wind that 
prevailed, and its being quite unsafe for our frail bark to 
proceed, we remained here until four o'clock in the after- 
noon of the nth, when we departed, though it was still 
blowing hard, with drizzling rain, making the weather quite 
cold and uncomfortable. We became so wet and chilled 



I8i2. LOST IN A WILDERNESS, 305 

that we stopped early in the evening. We left our resting 
place between four and five on the 12 th, with a rapid cur- 
rent that conveyed us swiftly along. About mid-day we 
espied a Tongusee canoe hung up between two trees, and 
the appearance of some wood freshly cut made me imme- 
diately push for the shore, inspired with the hope of find- 
ing there some inhabitants. In this expectation we were 
disappointed, though there was every appearance of per- 
sons having visited the spot but a short time before. We 
were not a little overjoyed to find the canoe with paddles 
and everything complete. Our raft was much water- 
soaked and swimming deep, and without the canoe we 
should have been obliged to remain a day somewhere in 
order to repair it, and put some additional logs to make it 
float higher. The canoe we now lashed to one side, put 
the Karaikee in one end and the Cossack in the other, 
with a considerable portion of our baggage, and lightened 
the raft, so that it swam as high as we could wish. We 
found those two persons with their paddles could turn it 
more quickly and better than all five of us had been able 
to do with poles. 

We now floated on a fine, deep, and wide river, and, 
though extremely crooked, beautiful beyond conception, 
winding down amongst romantic mountains and through 
large bodies of rich lowlands, interspersed with lakes, rivu- 
lets, and meadows covered with fine grass. It appeared a 
matter of surprise to me that so fine a stream, apparently 
possessing abundance of game and fish, should be entirely 
destitute of neighboring inhabitants. We saw numbers of 
fish constantly playing about us, and contrived a hook 
with a small nail, but had not the good fortune to catch 
any of them. The current seemed to increase as we 
descended, and we set off before four on the 13th to take 

20 



306 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

advantage of it. About ten o'clock I discovered a jourta 
not far from the edge of the left bank, and casting off the 
canoe despatched the Cossack and Karaikee to examine 
it. They soon returned, informing me it was a winter 
jourta of the Tongusees, but was then quite deserted, and 
that there was not the smallest appearance of inhabitants 
anywhere near. The day was hot and calm, and our visit 
to the shore brought off to us a swarm of mosquitoes that 
pestered us continually, — an annoyance we had not ex- 
perienced for some days previously in consequence of the 
wind and rain. My companions often complained of not 
having meat enough, and seemed displeased at my dealing 
it out sparingly. This was, however, absolutely necessary 
by reason of the difficulty of killing game, for we per- 
ceived that as we descended the river became wider, and 
the water-fowl scarcer and more difficult of approach ; 
besides which it was quite uncertain whether we should 
meet inhabitants at the sea-coast, and perhaps, when there, 
we might again find game scarce and difficult to shoot. 
On the 14th the current increased in rapidity to such a 
degree that it cost us considerable pain and labor to guide 
our raft in safety, and we felt grateful to Heaven for hav- 
ing fallen with the canoe, without which we could never 
have descended this part of the river on so frail a vehicle. 
We ran aground three or four times, and twice got 
entangled in the trees that hung over the stream, but for- 
tunately escaped without accident. Perceiving a very 
dangerous place just below us, and being too near the 
shore to prevent the raft's being drawn into the whirlpool, 
we pulled in and landed on the bank immediately oppo- 
site to us. We then dragged the raft up for about a hun- 
dred yards, assisted by the counter current that generally 
prevails near the edge of a stream. By this precaution 



i8i2. LOST IN A WILDERNESS. 307 

we got nigh enough to be able to make an offing sufficient 
to prevent being thrown upon another dangerous place 
we had seen below, composed of fallen trees, roots, etc., 
thrown up like an island, over which the water foamed in 
a cataract. Not long after we had landed I observed the 
Karaikee examining with great attention the spot where 
we were and the surrounding mountains, and at length he 
began to pray and to cross himself with great fervency, the 
tears running down his cheeks in a stream. I approached 
him to inquire the cause of his emotion, when he ex- 
claimed : " That is our mountain ; our village is not far 
off, for on this spot I caught some hares last winter. I 
know that we are now not far from Grebay, a small Yakut 
village on the sea-coast, at the mouth of the river, which 
is called Cowvah, and only twenty versts from Towinsk. 
But a short distance below this is the branch on which 
Towinsk stands, emptying itself into the bay, about ten 
versts higher up, and if it had been earlier in the season 
we might have descended it with a raft, but I perceive the 
water is now too low to attempt it." 

It will be easier for my readers to imagine than for me 
to express the joy we all experienced at this cheering 
news. We boiled our kettle and made all the meat we 
had into soup, determined to have a feast after such a 
long term of short allowance. This, however, was only a 
comparative feast, as our whole stock amounted to a third 
of a swan and a teal. Our repast finished we pushed off 
our raft with great spirits, paddling with all our strength to 
obtain the midway channel and avoid the dangers which, 
like Scylla and Charybdis, threatened us on either hand. 
The current ran at the rate of eight or nine knots an hour 
in turbulent eddies that twisted us round and round, in 
spite of our best exertions. We had, however, the good 



308 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1812. 

fortune to escape unhurt, but afterwards ran aground 
several times, and with great difficulty got the raft off (by 
all jumping into the water) and that not without injuring 
it materially. Between two and three o'clock in the after- 
noon we found ourselves in a fine wide channel, with a 
moderate current, and on the beach, not far below us, 
descried a man and two boys mending a canoe. The 
effect the sight of human beings had upon us is not to be 
described. Every soul shed tears of joy, and when these 
people approached with their canoe to assist us it was 
impossible to resist the impulse, or to answer their ques- 
tions. Our tears flowed in streams, and we were all so 
unmanned we could only reply to them by signs. The 
elder person proved to be a Yakut, whom I had known 
when I passed before. This good Yakut, when he recog- 
nized me, jumped upon the raft, clasped me in his arms, 
and shed tears in abundance, exclaiming, " Thank God ! 
Thank God ! you are all saved." He informed me that 
the Tongusees having confessed their leaving us on the 
mountain, the old chief, living near to Towinsk, had de- 
spatched his son, with twenty-five head of reindeer, in 
search of us, and that every one there had given us up 
for lost, knowing how difficult it was to procure food on 
those deserted plains and mountains in the spring of the 
year. 

On inquiry we found that had we taken any other route 
than the one we came we must inevitably have perished ! 



"Dear Uncle Fritz," said Alice, shivering, "did any- 
thing as bad as that ever happen to you ? " 

" Not for so many days," said he, patting her shoulder 



iSSi. AT THE SUPPER TABLE. 309 

as they walked into supper. " But I have eaten smoked 
salmon cold with more appetite than I now have for 
Ellen's hot muffins." 

When they were seated at the table, and the decom- 
position of the muffins had begun, Bob Edmeston fol- 
lowed up what Alice had said. 

" You see, Alice," said he, " that the excitement of dis- 
covery carries men on. For me, I mourn that nothing is 
left unknown for the explorers of this age." 

They all laughed at his melancholy, and Philip asked 
him what was the source of Mink Brook, and Laura if he 
would tell her where the water of the Shannock factories 
emptied into the sea. 

" I will not be bullied," said Bob. " I do not know 
these things because my education has been neglected. 
But, alas ! some one knows them. They are on the map 
of Rhode Island. What I thirst for is the unknown, yet 
not unknowable. Alas ! the discoverers have wrested this 
from me." 

" Not at all," said Uncle Fritz. " You have only to ask 
at the Public Library for the Journal of the Geographical 
Society, or the Bulletin de la Geographie, and you will 
see that there is as good discovery as ever going on to- 
day." 

" One comes to love these explorers," said Bertha. 
" Here I never heard of your Mr. DobelPs wife nor chil- 
dren nor home ; but I have been crying, without knowing 
it, because he was so hungry." 

Fergus said, rather seriously, that we always sympathized 
with men who gave themselves for an idea. It might be 
obedience to an Emperor, it might be the source of a 
river, — we were always glad to follow a man in propor- 
tion as he was unselfish. 



3IO STORIES OF ADVENTURE. 1881. 

Bob Edmeston, without going into the philosophy of 
the thing, said there were lots of interesting books on the 
shelf the Dobell volumes came from. 

So there are, and so it happens that the next volume 
of this series will be 



STORIES OF DISCOVERY TOLD BY DISCOVERERS. 



INDEX. 



Abbott, Jacob, io. 

Acre, 50; Siege of, 71, 81; assault 
on the town, 83 ; arrival of Rich- 
ard I., 89; surrender of Acre, 97; 
heroic incidents of siege, 87, 88, 

93. 94- 
Adams, John Quincy, 256; memoirs 

of, 256. 
Adventures, Captain Bonneville's, 

256. 
Albany, 156. 
Aleppo, 66. 
Algonquins, the, 143, 157, 158, 159, 

160. 
Alpine Club, 8, 9. 
Apaches, the, 158. 
"Arabian Nights," 31; Lane's 

translation of, 31, 32. 
Astoria, 256. 
Athapescans, the, 158. 
Aurora Borealis, 170. 

Balbeck, 66. 

Bancroft's History of the United 
States, 157. 

Beaver, the, 170-178; habitat of, 
170, 171 ; dams of, described, 172; 
beaver-houses, 173, 174; absurd 
stories concerning, 175; hunting 
the beaver, 177, 178. 

Bertrandon de la Brocquiere, 45 ; 
joins the Crusaders, 46 ; their 
route, 46 ; travelling in the desert, 
47; reaches Gaza, 4S; pilgrim- 
age to Nazareth, 49; the town of 
Acre, 50; gardens of Jaffa, 51; 



in Damascus, 52; Baruth, 53; 
Mount Tabor, 55; description of 
a caravan, 58; the shrine of Mo- 
hammed, 59; Damascus blades, 
61 ; Turkish customs, 65, 66, 
67, 68. 

Bethlehem, 34. 

Blue Hills, the, 8, 9. 

Bohn's Library, 33, 45, 71. 

Bryant's History of the United 
States, 127. 

Buffalo-hunt, a, 273, 274. 

Cabots, the, 102, 135. 

California, origin of the name, 102. 

Canary Islands, the, 188-193. 

Caravan, description of, 58. 

Casa Grande, 135. 

"Cat," a, 93. 

Cathay, the Chan of, 37-43. 

Cevola, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136. 

Charles V., Emperor of Germany, 
103. 

Chataubriand, Francois, Vicomte 
de, 255. 

Clements, Alberic, death of, 93, 94. 

Cleveland, Captain, early history 
of, 221, 222; buys a packet boat 
in Havre, and starts out to see 
the world, 221 ; his first crew, 221 ; 
some novel experimenting with 
the compass, 224, 225 ; a Prussian 
grenadier, 225, 226; a group 
worthy of Hogarth, 226 ; ad- 
venture with an English frigate, 
227 ; encounter with a privateer, 



312 



INDEX. 



228, 229 ; arrives at Cape of Good 
Hope, 231 ; is suspected of being 
a spy, 232; further difficulties 
encountered, 233-236 ; sells ves- 
sel and cargo, 236, 23S ; a voyage 
in South American waters, 23S ; 
arrives at Valparaiso, 23S ; diffi- 
culty with the Spanish Governor, 
239, 240; arrested, 243; further 
hostilities, 244-246 ; boarding the 
Hazard, 246, 247 ; calls on the 
Governor, 24S-250; final leave- 
taking, 251, 252 ; Captain Cleve- 
land at sixty-seven concerning 
himself, 237, 255. 

Cleveland's Travels, 220, 221 ; opin- 
ion of his book, 237; extracts 
from, 221-237, 23S-252. 

Columbia River, discovery of, 255. 

Columbus, Christopher, yj, 101, 
102. 

Conversation, Uncle Fritz's rules 
for, 9. 

Coronado, Vasquez de, expedition 
of, 128, 129, 135; discovery of 
the Gila River ; Casa Grande, 
135; Civola, 136, 137; descrip- 
tion of the country, and its 
people, 136-139. 

Cortez, Hernando, 101, 102, 103; 
extracts from letters of, 103-125 ; 
attack on colony of, at Vera 
Cruz, 104; uprising in city of 
Mexico, 104, 105, 106; Monte- 
zuma, attempting to pacify the 
Indians, is wounded to death, 
106; Cortez retreats to Tacuba, 
115; is defeated at Tacuba and 
Indian allies are slain, 116, 117; 
again retreats, 117, 118; Cortez 
as an explorer, 1 18-125. 

Cow-tree, the, 204. 

Crusaders, the, 45-6S; the Third 
Crusade, 71-100. 

Cyprus, taking of, 90. 

Dakotahs, the, 263-269. 
Damascus, 51, 52 ; blades of, 61. 



Dana, Richard Henry, 237. 

Defoe, Daniel, 1S5. 

Dobell, Peter, travels of, 277-308. 

Electrical eels, method of fish- 
ing for, 20S, 209. 

Eliot, John, Apostle to the Indians, 
15S. 

Ephrata, see Bethlehem. 

Fra Marco, 127; a prince of 
liars, 129; his remarkable ac- 
count of the country he explored, 
129-135; Coronado's opinion of 
Fra Marco, 136. 

Frederic Barbarossa, y^> 74> 77> 7& > 
tragic death of, 79, 80. 

Fulton, Robert, 256. 

Gay's History, see Bryant's His- 
tory of the United States. 
Gila River, 135. 
Goeffrey of Vinsauf, 69, 71. 
Goupil, Rene, 144, 145, 146, 147. 
Greek fire, 85. 
Guy, King of Jerusalem, 80. 

Hakluyt, quoted, 129. 

Hazard, the, 239 ; seizure of 246, 
247. 

Hearne's Travels, 159, 160; extract 
from, 160-183. 

Henry II. of England, 72, 89. 

Hudson's Bay Company, 1S4. 

Humboldt, Alexander, early history 
of, 184, 1S5 ; Travels of, 185; 
visits Washington, 185; extract 
from his own account of his travels, 
187 ; his fondness for the sea, 
1S7; love of Nature, 188; plans 
to study the Western Continent, 
1S8 ; arrives at the Canaries, 
188 ; the volcanoes of Teneriffe, 
189-192 ; Orotava, 192 ; flocks of 
canaries, 192, 193; the Southern 
Cross, 193, 194; Manzanares, 
the, 194; bathing in, 195 ; pearl- 
oysters of the South American 



INDEX. 



313 



coast, 195; South American 
scenery, impressive character of, 
197 ; Caripe, convent of, 199; 
preaching to the Indians, 199 ; 
Cumana, 200, 201 ; encounter 
with an Indian, 201, 202; aro- 
matic shrubs, 203 ; the cow-tree, 
204 ; howling monkeys, 205, 206 ; 
a search for drinking-water, 206, 
207 ; electrical eels, 208; croco- 
diles, 209; jaguars, 210, 211; 
a primitive South American 
grandee, 211-213; a midnight 
concert in the forest, 214 ; the 
Land Beyond the Great Cataracts, 
216-217; interlocked rivers, 218- 
219. 
Hurons, the, 142, 143, 144, 145, 
146, 149, 150. 

Indians, division into families, 157, 
1 58, 159; dialects of, compared, 
158, 159 ; Indians of the North, 
162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 16S, 
169, 1S1, 182, 183; an Indian 
Robinson Crusoe, 17S, 179, 180. 

Iroquois, the, 142, 143, 144, 145, 
146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 152, 153, 

154. '57- 
Irving, Washington, 256. 
Itinerary of Richard I., 71 ; extract 

from, 71-100 

Jaguar, the, 210, 211. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 185, 252, 254. 

Jesuits, Society of, 141, 142. 

Jogues, Father Isaac, 142; sent as 
missonary to New France, 142 ; 
travels to Quebec, 143; home- 
ward journey, 143 ; is attacked 
by hostile Iroquois, and captured, 
143, 144; capture of Ren6 Gou- 
pil, 145 ; suffers the most cruel 
tortures, 145, 146, 147; captivity, 
14S, 149, 150 ; his escape is 
planned, 151 ; escapes, and is 
concealed on a ship bound for 
Franco, 152, 153; voluntarily 



gives himself up, T54; release 
from captivity, 154; Dutch 
Governor makes terms with the 
Iroquois, 154; Massacre at 
Schenectady, 155, 156. 

Kamtchadales, the, 282, 283. 

Kamchatka, Dobell's travels in, 
277; the Kamtchadales, 282, 283; 
Prince Zachar, 2S3 ; the reindeer, 
284; sleeping in the snow, 285 ; 
sleighing in May, 287 ; among 
the mountains, 290; lost in a 
wilderness, 294-308. 

Kublai Khan, 15, 19-26. 

Lady Oliver House, 7. 

Lewis and Clarke, expedition of, 
255, 258. 

Loadstone, 35, 36. 

Long, Major S. H., 257; commands 
government-expedition to the 
Northwest, 25S ; route ordered, 
258; object of journey, 259; relics 
of the mound-builders, 259-263 ; 
meets with Dakota Indians, 263- 
265 ; Indian banquets, 266, 267; 
speech of the Chief, 268, 269; 
encounter with hostiles, 269-273 ; 
a buffalo-hunt, 273, 274. 

Mandeville, Sir John, 10, 31; 

travels of, 31 ; sources of his 

tales, 32; selections from. 34-43; 

why Sir John did not tell about 

Paradise, 43, 44. 
Manhattan, 154. 
Manzanares, the, 194, 195. 
Mecca, 58, 59. 

Mendoga, Don Antonio de, 128, 133. 
Minnesota, state of, 256, 257. 
Mississippi, source of, 257. 
Mohammed, shrine of, 59. 
Montezuma, 106; children of, 114, 

117. 
Moorish feast, a, 53. 
Moose-hunting, 1S0, 181. 
Moquis, the, famed for their cakes, 

139, 140. 



3i4 



INDEX. 



Narvaez, expedition of, 129, 255. 
New York, province of, 156. 
Nolan, Philip, 254. 
Northwest, the, 253-274. 

Ohio, mounds of, 260-263. 

Oregon, claim to, 255. 

Oregon trail, the, 256. 

Orinoco, the, 206, 207, 216, 217, 

218, 219. 
Orotava, 189, 192, 193. 

Parkman, Francis, 142, 256. 

Peabody Museum, the, 127. 

Petrariae, 91, 92, 95. 

Philip, Duke of Burgundy, 45. 

Philip II. of France, 72, 90, 91, 93. 

Pizarro, Gonzalo, 103. 

Plutarch's Lives, 70. 

Polo, Marco, 10, 11; Col. Yule's 
edition of, 11, 30; Irving's ac- 
count of, 11; his father and his 
uncle, voyages of, 11, 12; the 
Great Khan, 12; Marco Polo sets 
out on his travels, 12; return 
after twenty-four years, 12; re- 
ception to his countrymen, 13 ; 
is taken prisoner, 13; begins to 
write the story of his wanderings, 
14, 15, 16; Persia and the Three 
Wise Men, 16, 17, 18; Cublay 
Khan, 19; the rebellion of Nayan, 
20 ; Caidu, 20 ; battle between 
Nayan and the Khan, 22, 23 ; 
Nayan's defeat and surrender, 24. 

Post-houses, 26-29, I02 - 

Post-houses in Tartary, 26-29. 

Pottery, Indian, 127, 128. 

Pueblos, 128, 129, 132, 136, 137. 

Richard I. of England, 72 ; land- 
ing of, at Acre, 89 ; joins forces 
with the King of France, 90, 91, 
92, 99 ; Turkish estimate of, 99, 
100. 

Rio Negro, 219. 

Robinson Crusoe, 185, 275 ; the 



New, 185, 186; further advent- 
ures of, 276, 277. 

Roses, origin of, 34. 

Royal Mendicant, story of, 35. 

St. Paul, Vision of, 53. 
Saladin, 71, 74, 75, yy, 80, 82, 83, 

95, 96, 99. 

Schenectady, 155, 156; massacre 
at, 155; early American ballad 
about the massacre, 155, 156. 

Siberia, 275 ; a Siberian snowstorm, 
278, 279; Siberian hospitality, 
279-281. 

Sindbad the Sailor, Fifth Voyage 
of, 36. 

Six Nations, the, see Iroquois. 

South America, travels in, 187-219. 

Southern Cross, the, 193, 194. 

Spanish claims, 239. 

Tabor, Mount, 55. 

Talisman, the, 70, 71. 

Tamerlane, 52. 

Tartars, the, 40, 41. 

Teneriffe, volcano of, i8S, 189; the 

ascent of the Peak, 189-192. 
Terrestrial Paradise, ^7, 44- 
Three Wise Men, the, 16, 17, 18. 
Tobolsk, 277. 
Turks, manners and customs of, 

65, 66, 67, 68; valor of, 94, 95, 

96, 99. 

Tyre, 81, 84,85; archbishop of, 72. 

United States, northern bound- 
ary of, 256, 257. 

Verrazzani, 102. 
Vesuvius, Mount, 191, 192. 
Vicar of Wakefield, 69. 

Washington, government reports 

published at, 256. 
Washington, Mount, 69. 
Watts, Isaac, 253. 
World, early maps of, ioi, 102. 



Stories of War, the Sea, Adventure, 
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flag, never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, though 
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